Lif and Lifthrasir
by Imogen74
Summary: Post Ragnarok. Will be incorporating the events of "Infinity War," but with the author's creative license. What happens when the God of Mischief kinda tries to make things better? And what is left in his wake? Lokane.
1. Chapter 1

_Post Ragnarok._

* * *

And the ship's shadow swallowed the smaller one, dwarfed in size and prominence.

His stomach had long since fallen, but he wouldn't let Thor know. He needed to keep face and think of something.

Loki looked over at his brother…yes. Brother mostly now. And he knew that the Chitauri were looking for him. They had been since his previous jaunt on Midgard.

And there was nothing that could make that particular endeavor more palatable.

"Thor," he said softly.

And the God of Thunder, fully realized now, looked at him. "They're looking for you," he replied, the ship the Aesir were on being swallowed by a door in the undercarriage.

"Looking might be an overstatement."

"What would be accurate, then?"

Loki looked back to the window, and sighed.

"…he's not the traitor that you believed him to be, Your Majesty," Heimdall's voice came from behind.

"I don't think he's a traitor, Heimdall. I think he's an idiot," and Thor ran a hand through his shorn hair.

Loki blanched. That was rich, being called an idiot by Thor. "You know, I was a different man then. And I have paid, many times over, for those transgressions."

"And what of your current ones?"

Loki looked at the seer. "What do…?"

"I am not daft, God of Mischief," he held his gaze long.

They were now in the bowels of the beast, the sound of the ship's door closing echoed loudly in the expanse.

Thor looked at the people standing in a crowd behind him.

Loki watched him as he examined his features.

"All will be well!" he called. "There is nothing to fear. The Chitauri have some business with my brother here…once that is cleared, we will be moving on."

Loki looked on at the people…the people he had deceived for nearly four years. "Thor. I don't know if…"

But he turned toward him fitfully. "You will sort this out, Loki. I'll not have these people, these people who have suffered and had the only home they ever knew ripped from them, suffer more. You will fix this so that we might be on our way once more."

He swallowed. His Adam's apple bobbing in worry and uncertainty. The Chitauri were puppets of Thanos.

And Thanos…he was one of the only beings he feared in the cosmos. He feared him because he knew that he saw through him.

Loki nodded. "I'll…" he smiled very small. "I'll…" he looked at the Aesir. "See what I can do."

Thor took Loki's arm, brought his ear to his mouth. "You will do whatever you possibly can to see us back on track, brother."

There was a loud bang, and the hatch fell open below them.

"We are looking for Loki of Asgard," one of the Chitauri guards moved with some comical jerks and affected looks.

"Are you injured?" asked Thor.

"No questions, Aesir."

"How do you know we are Aesir?"

"We know things…we have our information."

Loki stepped forward. "I can come with you," he said.

They stepped aside, not looking at anyone but Loki.

Thor had a satisfied smile, confident and assured. "We will wait for you."

"I wouldn't count on anything, Thor," he replied.

…and he disappeared with the guards as the hatch closed.


	2. Chapter 2

The ship was dark and vast…it echoed along the corridor as they walked him to an unknown destination.

His mind was moving very fast. There had to be a way to momentarily subdue their plans…whatever they were. He had some ideas, none of which were terribly attractive.

"Where are we going?" he asked.

Nothing.

"So…we are going to see….him?" the thought of the Other seeped into his thoughts. Unpleasant in its own right.

Nothing.

The click on the ship's floor was becoming irritating. "We are not going to Thanos now, surely?"

Nothing.

And his patience flared. "I'll take some honeyed mead. And we are heading toward the center of Yggdrasil, so if you'd be so kind as to set us at the nearest convenient realm?"

"Your humor, Aesir, is unappreciated."

"At least I received a response," he muttered. And they continued on, getting on a lift and rising up.

It was cold, the metal that clanged on.

It didn't really faze him.

And after a fashion, the doors opened. Loki walked out and looked around. "Prince of Asgard."

It sent a chill down his spine…but it wasn't the voice he had known. "No longer," he said. "Asgard's land is gone from the cosmos."

"I know," said the voice…and he leaned into the light from his perch.

This was not the Other, not the one Loki had once known. "I don't believe that I've had the pleasure," he simpered.

"Not so pleasurable, Asgard's Prince. You owe a debt."

"Debt?"

"Do not pretend, Loki of Asgard…you know of what I speak. I am here on Thanos's behalf, and he demands repayment."

"When will we be seeing Thanos?"

The being smiled.

"It is pleasant when you find someone with whom so little need be said and yet meaning is conveyed."

"Thanos," the being began to pace, and fell into full relief of light. He was looming, his head bearing a bejeweled helmet. His eyes were black and heavy. "Will not be coming. He knows that you are going to Midgard. He knows also that the other Prince will be seeking a maid."

Loki's brow furrowed. Thor and his love were not so in love any longer…unless …and he thought that Thanos must not be privy to this. "What of the maid?"

"She held the aether."

He nodded.

"She can be of use to Thanos."

He was confused a moment. "You want the Midgardian mortal?"

"Not I…Thanos."

"And what does Thanos want of me?"

"Convince Thor to give her up. It will satisfy the debt."

Loki considered this for a moment. He offered a stiff nod.

The being smiled maliciously. "Take our guest back to his ship…"

They surrounded him and led him away…

"Loki," Thor was standing at the hatch as Loki walked up into the belly.

He didn't look at him. He was deep in thought…"They'll be releasing us momentarily."

Loki walked to the front of the ship and stared out ahead of them, into the vast space between worlds. And there was a woman just beyond, not knowing what was coming…

* * *

"Fuck it," she said as she squatted to the floor to pick up the fallen papers. It had been a day. Jane Foster was trying to collect herself after her presentation before AAAS. After losing the Nobel Prize, she had to start from scratch. It was not pleasant.

"Jane!"

She rolled her eyes, turning. "Hi Pete."

"Great presentation," he squatted next to her and began helping with the papers.

"Thanks."

"I was thinking…"

Don't think please.

"…maybe we could go to this bar just down the way and grab a bite."

"Thanks…but I need to get home. Start the next phase."

He nodded. "Ok, well. Good work."

They stood together awkwardly. "I'll see you, then," and she held the stack of papers to her chest, clinging unnecessarily tightly, and turned down the corridor.

It had been such a disaster. Everything since London.

Thor never coming back, just as she had predicted.

Losing the Nobel.

Sokovia and everything that was.

And now, just trying to piece her life back together. Because, she realized, no one would be doing it for her.

She reached for her keys…

No keys.

"Shit," she said. Where were her keys…?

She sighed…reached for her phone. She ordered an Lyft. And there was forty dollars she'd never get back.

Jane called her landlady, because of course she didn't have a key to her apartment. It was with her car keys. "Yes, Mrs Bennett. Yes if you don't mind. I …yes. I know it's late. Thank you. It won't happen again," and she hung up. She sighed.

Jane watched as the buildings in DC whizzed by. How did she end up here?

She closed her eyes. So many things had happened. Too many, really. Too many to count. And she was alone, just as she had been.

Only this time, no Erik, and no Darcy.

After London, she had been too emotional and distraught to pay them attention. She desired only solitude and work.

How long had she waited for him? Weeks? Months? She didn't know. She woke in a stupor, and left shortly thereafter.

And ended up in the States, avoiding New Mexico.

She rested her forehead on the cool glass of the window. The presentation was laughable. Ever since she had been passed over for the Nobel, people thought of her as something of a naive joke.

Despite London. Despite New York. They all seemed to believe that a wormhole wasn't possible here, and that to build one was folly.

They were small thinkers.

The car pulled in front of her New Alexandria townhouse and she got out. She reckoned it would be a long weekend, and fancied delivery and Netflix.

Mrs Bennett had left the door unlocked, and Jane clicked the door shut, leaning against it, letting her head thud softly on the glass of the outside door. She took out her phone before she walked through toward her unit and opened the door. "Yeah hi. Large pizza, plain. And a side of fries with cheese. And…ah…a two liter of Coke. No that's it," she sat down, and picked up the remote. "I may never shit again."

* * *

It was two in the morning when she woke on the sofa to a knocking on the door. Jane sat ramrod straight.

"What the…?" she got up and went to the door, peering through the peephole. "Mrs Bennett!" she cried, and opened the door.

"Jane. Strange men were just here asking about you," she looked very worried.

"What men? Mrs Bennett, it's two am."

"Well, why do you think I've come?"

Jane stepped aside and let her in. "Did you talk to them?"

"I did. But I didn't trust them. So I told them to leave and come back in the morning."

She looked around…she should go. She should not stay if strange men were looking for her. "Thank you Mrs. Bennett…What time were they here?"

"Ah...around fifteen minutes ago, but they only stayed five minutes."

Jane nodded. She'd wait for a few minutes to make certain that no one was watching her, and she'd duck out back…

She'd need those keys.

"I'll need to leave. I…I'll be in touch as soon as I think it's safe."

"Who's looking for you, Janie? Are you in trouble?"

"No. But I never count out the possibility that strange men are looking for me."

Mrs Bennett looked at her crookedly as Jane rummaged through her things. "Are you in the sex trade, Jane?"

"What? No! No…no I'm not. It's complicated."

"It always is, dear."

She rolled her eyes and sighed. No sense in trying to make her understand. "Ok…" she peered out of the window. She would need to get back to her office. She had left her keys there, and then back to downtown proper for her car…

This was getting complicated.

"Mrs Bennett…I have a lot to do before I can leave DC. So, I think I'll just get going now. I won't tell you where I'm going…" she shoved everything she cared about in one bag, clothes and toiletries in another. Her purse was filled with her money, her laptop…a few books. "Until I'm settled. I need to get off the grid."

"Who are these people, Jane? Should I be scared?"

Jane was opening the door, then turned. "They're S.H.I.E.L.D…and no. They're just assholes."

* * *

It had been trying, the attempt to get all of her things together. The kerfuffle with her keys had set her back considerably.

No matter. She was on her way now, and that was the material point.

On her way where, she hardly knew.

But there was no way she was going to allow S.H.I.E.L.D. to get her shit again.

Or anything else for that matter.

She zipped down I-95, thinking about New Mexico.

Probably not the best choice in terms of where to hide.

Florida.

Jane smiled.

Florida might be better. More crowded. She could gather her thoughts there…determine whether she should leave the country or stay put.

She drove all night and all the following day. She was in Jacksonville filling her gas tank.

Had she overreacted? Was Mrs. Bennett a pawn?

No. Silly notion.

Jane sighed and got back into her car.

Stupid Thor. This was all his fault. She had never lived in fear before, and now, that was all she did.

Constant, unrelenting fear.

She didn't trust S.H.I.E.L.D. She wasn't speaking with Darcy or Erik. She was all alone in the world, fighting a faceless something, while her almost boyfriend scaled the cosmos and probably slept with other really hot alien women.

She seethed.

Ex-boyfriend.

Jane could not be involved with him in any capacity any longer. It was too painful, too unpredictable.

Too….much.

She pulled into a nice-looking hotel and checked in, thinking only of a bed and the sound of the ocean.

She got her keycard out and slid it through the sensor.

"Hello Miss Foster," came a voice.

…and inside her hotel room was at least eight men in suits, all looking very stern and solemn.

"We need to speak with you."

She sighed very heavily. "What about?"

"Thor," he smiled.


	3. Chapter 3

"Yeah no," she replied.

"Have you had any contact with him recently?"

"Why?"

"Have you?"

"No," she crossed her arms.

"I think we will need to stay close, Ms Foster."

"Dr Foster," she quickly answered. "And why? What's going on?"

The agent looked at her quizzically for a moment, considering something. "There was, very recently, a disturbance of a sort on Asgard. We are monitoring the situation."

"A disturbance? Is everything ok?"

"That hasn't been determined yet," he nodded to the rest of them to leave.

Jane swallowed, watching them all leave.

They had found her…despite her haste and attempts at stealth. There was no way that she could ever fully escape them. She sighed.

And Thor could be in danger…"Who fucking cares," she spat, tossing herself on the bed. She would not bother herself with him anymore. She would not think about it. She would go back to DC, since Thor was all they wanted, and live her life.

Jane closed her eyes and drifted off to sleep…

* * *

The shadow of Midgard was looming in the not so far distance. Its blue iridescent and soft. There was a subtle beauty about it, he had to admit.

Albeit reluctantly.

He drew a thin breath through his nose. "Thor."

"Yes," the God of Thunder seemed severe.

"You should not go…"

"What do you mean?" he looked at Loki.

"I should go."

"You should go," he replied sardonically.

"Think of it, Thor. I can disguise myself. I can talk to them…"

"The mortals hate you, Loki."

"Well, we will need to build a new bridge."

"What for?"

"For the continuation of the people of Asgard. Or have you forgot about them?"

Thor turned in him with a glare. "How dare you suggest such a thing!"

"Then perhaps you should start thinking about them," he hissed. "Staying on Midgard is probably not the wisest of moves. We will need to be able to seamlessly travel through the Realms. We should not be hindered by Midgard's shortcomings."

"Maybe we shouldn't."

"Shouldn't what?"

"Move."

"You wish to stay on that blue rock?" he couldn't believe it. It was untenable. "We are of Asgard…" he paused. "Well, you are of Asgard."

"Don't start your nonsense."

He smiled a very small smile. "A new BiFrost will need to be built. That's the first step. And I know of one person on that Realm that has an interest in it."

Thor's face paled as it fell. "No."

"Listen to reason, brother. She is a bright mortal. She can…"

"She and I have not spoken in some time."

Loki swallowed. "Yes, which is why I thought that I could speak with her."

It was impossible to discern the look on Thor's face. "Heh. No," he turned from him.

"Thor, listen to reason. She won't speak with you. She is a Midgardian …what's the word?"

"Scientist," he replied, turning away. "Her title is 'Doctor'."

"That's it. And I can speak with her, smooth things out for you…"

"Maybe I don't want to smooth anything."

"Whatever you like. Rough, then," he smiled.

"Are you being suggestive?"

"Me?" Loki simpered.

"Stop. Jane is not your concern."

"Is she yours?"

"Why do you care, Loki? I mislike these questions, as well as the subject."

He should take another tact. "Will she speak with you?"

Thor sighed. He had reached the bowels of the ship where many of Asgard's citizens sat in patient wait. "I do not know. But she won't speak with you."

"If I am properly disguised…"

He rounded on him. "What are you going to say to her, hm? Help me build the BiFrost? Just…like that?"

"Noooo…but I thought that I could find her and introduce myself as a member of the race of Asgardians. And then, you know…"

Thor's eyebrows went up his forehead. "No. Please explain."

"I could…perhaps give her a message from you. And then reveal myself. And all will be well."

"What happened with the Chituri?"

"I already told you."

He seemed unconvinced. "What did they want?"

"They wanted to know what had happened to Asgard. They have worked with me previously, as you recall, and I told them."

Nothing.

"It seemed the most prudent thing to do. They would find out, anyway."

"There is something amiss here, Loki. And I do not trust you."

He would need to think quickly, because he was attempting to do what was best for everyone. "I understand. By all means. Go to Jane Foster. You should, you know. Sort things out…I can stay here."

Thor crossed his arms. "And now you are all in agreement. And so eager to please."

"You know, you really are never satisfied. You want me to stay, or at least, not go. And when I offer, you are contemptuous."

"Fine," Thor shrugged.

"I beg your pardon?"

"Fine."

"Fine…what?"

"Fine. Go. Find Jane Foster. And as soon as you find her, tell her who you are. And then tell me her reaction…whatever your schemes, it will be worth it to hear what her reaction is to you."

Loki cleared his throat. "I'm glad to hear we are in agreement," and he turned, going back to the helm.

That was surprisingly more easy than he had anticipated. They would be entering the Realm proper in an hour. And he had the go ahead to find Jane Foster.

This would be infinitely easier than he had expected.

But then, Thor was decidedly less enamored of her than he thought. Something must have happened to inaugurate this change.

He meant to discover it.

* * *

She shoved things into her bag, thinking about the long journey back to DC. The thought was unsavory.

No, it made her rather ill.

Driving for twenty hours…"Coffee…" she said, rubbing her face.

Jane held her keys and tried desperately not to think about what had happened to Asgard, that shining city in the sky.

She closed her eyes and clicked the doors open. She wouldn't think about it, since it was plain there was nothing she could do.

And S.H.I.E.L.D. was watching her, which was annoying.

She got into her car and pulled out of the hotel lot.

Too bad, Florida. Next time, maybe.

It was best this way. She hated the idea of being on the run…being in D.C., in the midst of everything, was where she wanted to be, anyway.

Jane turned her music on and lost herself in the sound. 95 was a bear, and she'd need some relaxation to cope.

About eight hours in, right after she entered North Carolina, she decided to stop and rest. Eat.

Something.

And as soon as she made the decision, she started thinking about Asgard.

Jane looked to the sky.

Somewhere…along the strange currents of space time…something dreadful had happened.

And Thor was lost.

And people were looking for him.

"He's perfectly safe."

She whirled around to see a tall man smiling at her. "What?"

"Nothing. Are you all right?"

"Fine," he was creepy. She turned hurriedly to avoid further interaction.

"You don't appear to be all right," he was walking next to her now, and she looked up at him…brow furrowed.

"I'm fine. Just hungry."

"Ah. Well, fortunately, there's a place just here to obtain food…" he gestured toward the restaurant.

"Yeah. That's why I'm here."

They went in together.

Why was she such a freak magnet? This stuff always seemed to happen to…

"Do you mind if I join you?"

"What? No. I mean…yes. I mind, and no. You can't," she smiled at the hostess. "Table for one."

"One for me, too, miss. And why don't you just seat us together, since we are dining alone?" he smiled at her…

…and there was something familiar in his look. "Do I…?"

"Right this way," the hostess smiled.

They sat in a booth by the window, and Jane looked at him carefully. "What's your name?"

"I think we should save that for another…"

"I know you."

"Do you?" he smirked.

"Yeah…" but she couldn't place him. There was something familiar, yet oddly…"Tell me your name."

He sighed. He couldn't decide whether to tell her…at least some of…his purpose. "You have met me, Dr Foster."

"I knew it!" she clapped. "I was starting to think I was going crazy," she smiled. "How do I know you?"

"Through…my brother," he said hastily.

"Your brother," she repeated. "Hm."

"You…you were…"

Her eyes went wide…

…and he almost got up, because he wasn't quite ready for her to know…

"Did I flunk him in undergrad? I did that a lot. There was a lot of pressure, and I thought that I was helping, but the Professor then told me that I was being way too harsh and…"

"No," Loki interrupted. "No. Not from school."

"Oh. Ok," and the server took their drink orders.

"Are you still doing your research?"

"Research?"

"On…the…" what did the mortals call the BiFrost? "On the…space…the…bridge?"

"Einstein-Rosen Bridge? Yes. All the time."

He smiled. Excellent. "I have interest in them."

"Does your brother?"

"He does…" Loki thought that he would need to tell her soon. He simply wasn't privy to her anger, and how much she despised him.

He supposed a lot.

"That was part of your interest in him, actually."

"Oh…" she played with her straw as the food came. And she looked at him closely.

It couldn't be…

…but then…

Well, if he thought she was such an idiot, then she could get her own back and pick his brain.

Thor's brother, Loki.

Murderer and psycho.

Who should be dead.

And who inexplicably saved her life in a foreign Realm.

"So…your brother. Where's he from?"

"He's…"

"I'm just trying to place him. There's been so many."

"Brothers?"

She laughed. "Sure," she shrugged.

"I can well believe it," he smiled. "He's from out of town."

"Which town? I've lived in several."

"Far. Very."

Jane nodded. "What are you doing, Loki?"

He choked on his water. "I beg your pardon?"

"For someone who is known for changing his appearance, you've done a shit job."

He shed the paltry attempt. "No fooling you, hm? Thor has underestimated you in nearly every respect."

"You can say that again."

He sipped the water and considered her. "What are you doing traveling, Dr Foster?"

"Why?"

"Curiosity," he shrugged.

"No. You don't get to ask me questions."

"No? Can you ask me?"

Her mouth set. "Yep."

He smirked at her, and raised his eyebrows. "What would you like to know?"

"How are you still alive?"

"Well, as you may know, I am a great sorcerer. I am able to survive the most grievous of wounds. I can travel quickly and efficiently along Yggdrasil…."

"So, you just…you skipped out? And that's it?"

"In a manner of speaking, yes."

Jane shook her head. "Ok. Well…what happened to Asgard?"

His gaze fell. He wasn't prepared to talk about it just yet…he hated to admit it, but he was feeling somewhat responsible for the whole of it. "I think that we should save that conversation."

"For when? It's not like we'll be spending much time together."

And he looked up. "Don't you want to see Thor?"

Jane's stomach fell. She played with her napkin and swallowed. "I…that's not the point."

"What is the point, exactly?"

"What are you doing here?" she spat. Jane was incensed.

"I'm here because I needed to speak with you about a very specific matter."

Her eyes went wide. "You want to speak to me?" she paused. "Well?"

"I think that we should save it, though."

"For?"

Loki cleared his throat and took a bite of his food. "This is truly horrific. We should go someplace more suitable."

"We aren't going anywhere," she hissed. "I'm going back to DC. You are going back to…wherever."

"That's just it, Dr Foster," he paused. "I can't."

* * *

They were speeding along 95. Jane couldn't believe that Loki was in the passenger seat. Not after everything…

But he did seem so lost. Sad.

Something.

"So will you tell me, then?"

His mind was abuzz. He was attempting to calculate his chances with Jane in every possible scenario.

Friends.

Lovers.

Prisoner.

Intellectual partner.

"It's complex and nuanced," and it was. Though he was loathe to admit it, he had deduced that taking this woman to Thanos would likely mean peace…at least marginal. He could figure out the particulars with the Infinity Stones once Thanos's attention was beyond Midgard.

"Try me."

He looked at her. He smiled slightly. "You know, Dr Foster? I think I might just do that."


	4. Chapter 4

"Odin is dead," he began.

"Dead?" she replied.

"As in, he is gone of this plane."

"I gathered," her eyes remained fixed on the road.

Loki looked out of the window. There was something so…flat…about Midgard. He found it amusing. "He had another child, and he banished her to Helheim, for she had gone beyond the control of Odin…had desired more than what was hers. And Odin could not abide that."

"No. His kids have a propensity for wanting more, it seems."

Loki looked at her. "Do you mean me, or Thor?"

She glanced. "Both, I think."

He cleared his throat. "What did he do to you?"

Jane's expression set. "I don't want to talk about it."

"He is indelicate to be generous."

"Not your business."

He shrugged. "Well, we needed to leave Asgard. And Thor opted for Midgard as a place to go."

"Is Thor here?"

"Not yet," and he looked at her for a reaction. He wasn't disappointed.

"Oh."

Loki smiled at her blush. "Where did you say we were going?"

"Washington DC."

He nodded. "How much further is it?"

"Mm…about eight more hours."

He sighed, leaning back. "I could have us there in eight seconds."

"Nope. No way. I'm not trusting you with that."

He smiled. "Good girl."

* * *

The ship hovered over the base in up-state New York. Tony Stark was there, looking up at them.

Thor was watching…the people would be safe here for now. They would need to get accustomed to the place if they were to stay here for any length of time.

"Is this where you're leaving us?"

Thor turned to Heimdall. "I'm not leaving anyone. I'll be here, making certain that everything is comfortable and safe."

"You know that we aren't. Midgard is only safe in the short term."

"I disagree, Heimdall. We are quite safe. Now and in the future."

"The mortals harbor infinity stones…"

The ship landed with a thud. "We should disembark," and Thor turned away, heading for the door.

"Well well. Point break…I don't like the haircut."

"Good to see you, Stark. Thanks for letting us land here."

"What's going on with Asgard? S.H.I.E.L.D. is in a fit."

The two started heading for the Avengers compound while the ship unloaded its passengers. "Things are in some upheaval. I'd rather not let S.H.I.E.L.D. in on things until I've got the people settled and well away from their prying eyes."

"They'll know a ship landed here, Thor. There's only so much I can do."

"Well, so much the better for acting quickly," and they walked into a control center.

"What happened to Asgard?" he sat and nodded to a man standing nearby.

Thor sighed and rubbed his face. "I'm not sure where to begin."

"When I have that feeling, I generally start at the beginning," and he sipped the cocktail the man brought the both of them.

"Odin is dead."

Tony sighed and leaned back. "This is going to be a long talk, I can feel it."

* * *

Jane was in the rest stop bathroom washing her hands.

What was she thinking, road tripping with Loki? This was too surreal for words.

But, she supposed, S.H.I.E.L.D. would be taking him into their custody once she got back to DC. They had said they'd be keeping an eye.

Let them deal with him.

She left and went to the car.

And Loki was leaning against it, sipping what appeared to be a very large soft drink.

"Whadya get?" she smiled at him and got in the car.

"I'm not sure, but it's fairly repellent."

She shrugged. "Let me have a taste."

He looked at her crookedly. "Are you certain you want to share my drink?"

'It's a sip, Loki," she rolled her eyes and took the cup. "It's Coke," and she handed it back.

"Well, now we are engaged," he drank from it.

"What?"

"On Asgard, sharing a drink is symbolic of a promise of marriage. That's how Odin and Frigga announced their engagement."

"What." Jane looked at him, mouth agape.

…and he started to laugh at her.

"You're an asshole," she sneered, pulling out of the spot.

…but she laughed.

They had been driving for about an hour, and Jane thought that they'd better have some conversation. She was getting bored with endless staring straight ahead. "So…what exactly happened to you after you were stabbed by that thing?"

"I fled. When I awoke, I realized that everyone thought that I was dead. And I decided to use that to my advantage. So, I slipped out of Svartalfheim. I was injured, so I needed time to heal. I went to Alfheim briefly before returning to Asgard."

"And? What happened when you were on Asgard?"

Loki cleared his throat. "I disguised myself as Odin…I had tricked him and stowed him away here on Midgard. And Thor came to me, as Odin, telling me that he wanted to be with…" he looked at her. "You."

Nothing.

"What happened, Dr Foster? He was set on being with you…he relinquished his throne."

"I don't care to discuss it. Not with you. You're a liar and a sneak."

"But that might be used to your particular advantage, if you are wily."

"I don't understand," Jane glanced over, and Loki was smiling at her.

"Thor is coming…he's likely here already. He's attempting to remain under S.H.I.E.L.D.'s notice."

"He's here," she replied, and she wasn't sure how she felt about that.

"Or nearly," he said.

"I don't get how you can help me, especially when Thor and I aren't speaking."

"Perhaps he needs only a push."

Her brow furrowed. "I still don't…"

…and the plan unfurled itself in his brain. It was brilliant, even for him. "I could pretend to be in love with you."

Jane almost veered off the road. She screamed as she nearly smashed into the guard rail.

They were on the side of 95, and she looked for an emergency pull off. Jane saw it, just ahead. She drove over and got out of the car.

What the fuck was happening. Why was she driving Loki to DC?

Because, she reminded herself…S.H.I.E.L.D. would be taking him. And he had needed her for something…

She went over to the car and opened the door with some ferocity. "What do you want with me?" she demanded.

And he got out of the car, smiling a touch. "I need…we, need," he amended. "To rebuild the BiFrost. It was destroyed. And you, Dr Foster…you have begun the research on how to accomplish this."

"That's why you're here?"

"That's why I'm here."

"What happened to Asgard?"

He swallowed. "Thor's sister."

"Is she alive?"

"I do not know," and he didn't. He didn't know the extent of her power.

"And so, I help you with the BiFrost…"

"And I shall help you win back Thor," he smiled.

"I'm not sure I want that."

"Well, just for fun, then."

She shook her head. "I feel like I'm in a warped Faustus."

"The play?"

"You know it?"

He cocked a brow. "Of course I do."

She smirked. She held her hand out. "Just for fun."

He looked at it.

"You shake," she said. "We have a deal."

He took her hand, slid his finger tangentially along her wrist as he did. "Deal."

"I shouldn't trust you. But since it's science and harmless fun…I'll take my chances," and she took her hand away.

"Who said anything about harmless?" he smiled.

"I did," she walked over to the driver's side and got in. "And you," she continued as Loki got into her car. "You are in love with me, not the other way round. I'm not going to feign any feelings for you."

"It would be more believable, you must admit, if you at least liked me a little."

"We'll see," and she drove off in a cloud of dust.

* * *

"So. Asgard's gone," Tony sat back, rubbing his face.

"No. Asgard is here. Her people."

"Whatever. Semantics. And what about your crazy sister?"

"Gone," Thor shifted a bit.

"Gone, hm? Your crazy brother wasn't gone…what makes you think she is?"

"I didn't say she was dead. I said she was gone."

"Again. You're arguing semantics. I don't like this. And what about the Chituri? They stopped you before heading here and spoke with Loki. It doesn't seem like they'd be having a couple of beers and hanging out."

"Loki claims they knew that something had happened to Asgard, and were confirming it."

"Yeah. You buy that?"

"Not especially…though I think that was partly true."

"What do you think that they wanted?"

Thor looked out of the window. "Infinity Stones."

* * *

It was quite dark by the time they entered DC. She figured it was best to just head home at this hour. S.H.I.E.L.D. would be by in the morning.

She hoped.

Jane did not need the hassle of a rogue Asgardian would-be conquerer of Earth hiding out in her living room.

"So…the couch is pretty comfortable," she said, taking out pillows and a blanket.

"You're setting up my sleeping space?"

"Well ya. I'm exhausted. And if we are going to be doing some hard science in the next few days, then I need to rest."

"Understood," he smiled.

"Ok…well. There's food in the kitchen. Bathroom is just down the hall there…" she pointed to a dark hallway beyond to kitchen. "See you in the morning," and she turned.

"In the morning," he repeated, watching her leave.

Loki looked around.

He couldn't believe he was here, especially since not that long ago he was sitting on Asgard's throne.

But his hubris had made him blind to much…and his cleverness…well. He had to admit he had slipped.

He sat on the couch and began to spin the threads of space-time.

…and there was the Tesseract, rescued from a dying Realm.

Loki scanned the room. He couldn't keep it in a fold of magic in time. He'd need to put it somewhere…

He closed his eyes and began to massage space with the seior. And the Tesseract disappeared into the earth under Jane's apartment.

He had leverage now. He had the Tesseract. He had Jane Foster…or at least, he was working on it.

He'd need a few days to make her like him…take her then to Thor. And once he turned on the charm, she'd trust him. He would hold his end of the bargain.

And then…the Chituri.

He sighed, rubbing his face.

He was banking on Thor's sister being dead, or at least, trapped somewhere. Thanos…he wanted the Infinity Stones.

And Midgard had at least two right now.

Probably three or four.

If he could keep them away from him…

Loki waved his hand and his clothes changed.

He laid on the couch, staring at the ceiling.

His plan was precarious, but it was what he had, and he was going to hold onto it tightly.

* * *

…and Jane Foster slept down the hall, oblivious to these goings on.

She dreamt of revenge and the stars. And of milkshakes with her dad.

While the Tesseract glowed in the dirt below,

…and Loki, Thor's brother, slept on her couch down the hall.


	5. Chapter 5

She woke in a daze, but was quickly wide awake. She had slept hard and long…and couldn't remember what had happened to exact this slumber.

Jane turned on her side.

And then she sat straight up.

She got out of bed and opened her door…

She heard the coffee brewing.

She went back in and put her robe on, sighing and rubbing her face. Jane looked at her phone for any indication that S.H.I.E.L.D. had contacted her.

Nope. Nuthin.

She sighed and went to the bathroom.

When she went to her kitchen she found Loki sitting at the small table, sipping coffee.

"You like coffee?" Jane asked, pouring herself some.

"It's fair."

She looked at him, but he wasn't looking at her. "Well, your brother loved it."

"Hm," he said as she sat down.

"I guess I'll need to get you into the lab, if we are going to try and figure out a new bridge."

"Probably," he replied. "Do you have books on the subject?"

"What? Of course I do. It's my work," she was incredulous.

"Because, you see, I have never built one. I am able to navigate…"

"Without it, I know," she interrupted.

Loki smiled. "You pay attention."

Jane shrugged. "When I'm interested."

He dropped his gaze, mulling his tact. "I've never been of much interest to anyone."

She rolled her eyes. "Uh-huh. I believe that," and she sipped her coffee.

"You doubt me?" and he wondered if this was an ill-advised approach.

"Well, I think you've been of interest to plenty. Probably just not the kind of interest you wanted," she smiled. "But then, that's your fault."

He nodded. "Astutely observed."

"I try," she paused. "But I think that we need to come up with an identity for you during the next few days. I need to smuggle you into the lab to work…"

"And then we will need to get to New York."

"New York?" she furrowed her brow.

"Where the Avenger's compound is," he said. "And Thor."

She swallowed, nodding. "What are they doing there, exactly?"

"Probably trying to determine their next move. We cannot stay on Midgard indefinitely."

"Have you been in contact with them?"

"Not since yesterday before I met you."

Jane considered them. "Do you really think that we will be able to successfully construct a BiFrost in a few days?"

"No. But we can get it started and bring it to Tony Stark, who had some scientific acumen, and some more funds. And if I come with you, he'll take me more seriously."

She nodded. That all made sense. "Ok. So…what about your name?"

He waved his hand, and he was in a smart suit, handing her a wallet. Jane opened it:

 _Dr Wendell Owens_

 _Centre for Mathematical Sciences, Wilberforce Rd, Cambridge CB3 0WA, UK_

"Oh…" she said, looking at him. "Theoretical Physics."

He nodded. "Will that do? I can pretend to be a colleague…well. Not so much pretending, as we will be working together on a physics experiment."

"Ok. Well. Let me get ready," and she stood, going to her bedroom to shower and change.

* * *

"Infinity Stones," repeated Tony Stark.

"I've been looking for them…and I think that there are at least two here on Midgard."

"Two? What the hell are you talking about?"

"The Vision. He has one. And the Sanctum Sanctorum …in New York. They have one."

"Stephen Strange."

Thor nodded. "There are six…the Aether was delivered to Taneleer Tivan. The Tesseract, which I believe has been destroyed. The others, I know not where they are."

"There are two more," Tony said. "Are you certain that the Tesseract was destroyed?"

"It was in Odin's collection. It was on Asgard, and Asgard has been destroyed."

"Do they need to be united, or are they powerful in their own right?"

"United, they are unstoppable."

Tony shifted. He looked out of the window. "So…there's a chance that the Tesseract was destroyed. We have two which are being held by people…well. Things here on Earth. And one…"

"On Knowhere."

"Right," he said. "We need to get Stephen Strange here. Vision is here…I mean, what are we talking about here? Like, intergalactic war?"

"If Thanos gets these stones…I'm not certain. No outcome will be good."

"Ok. Well, we just won't let him, then."

"I admire your surety, Stark. But I wouldn't be too optimistic. Thanos has been searching for these things for some time. He is steadfast in his resolve."

"Who is this Thanos guy, anyway?"

"I've only heard parts…" Thor sat back. "Bits here and there. I do know that Odin stopped his campaign for power once he knew of him. I know that my sister knew him. And that Loki knows of him more than I. No one has the utter gall he has…and I'm wary of what that means."

"Is he a god?"

A solemn look befell his visage. "He is a Titan."

* * *

Jane was walking through the hall with Loki, trying not to think that she was walking through the hall with Loki.

She was unsuccessful.

It had been relatively easy to get them to let them through.

And she thought that they needed better security.

But this was also thrilling, in a very childish way…breaking the rules. And to be breaking them with Loki of all people…Thor's brother.

Likely wanted for murder and all sorts of nefarious things.

She opened the door to the lab.

…when had she become so lax in her judgment?

Since, she supposed, she had nothing left to lose. Jane looked over at Loki, who was studying some chart.

Her life had become almost comical, she thought, turning on the computer. No one took her very seriously anymore.

She was hysterical at best, a fraud at worst.

And there were some who thought she was just chasing some muscly god…that she was a teenager, lovelorn and silly.

And maybe, on some level, she was. After all, she was helping Loki with the promise that he would make Thor see that she was a desirable person.

Jane wasn't even sure that he would take it seriously, this charade. But it would only be for a few days. And she would leave them to figure out the bridge, and hopefully forge a new life.

One without her or Earth in it.

She wanted to see, just for a minute, some regret for what he had done.

And though she had known it was very unlikely that anything would ever come of their relationship, it stung nonetheless.

She sat at the desk and opened up her files on Einstein-Rosen bridges.

"The trick is to amp up enough speed. I don't know if a ship could be made, or a suit, or something…I was working on a ship…" and she pointed to the blueprint. "See?" she turned, and Loki was next to her, looking at the screen.

"The BiFrost was a force field. No ancillary equipment was needed."

"Well, how do we create a force field? One that could transport people at the speed of light, or faster?"

He smiled at her. "Magic."

Jane rolled her eyes. "Magic. I thought we were doing science. Trying to make a tangible way for you all to get home. Or somewhere you could make one."

"Yes, but sometimes science needs a push," he said, sitting next to her.

"What are you talking about?"

"I'll need to read your notes, some books… but I think…I think I can make this happen."

She looked at him, her mouth agape. "Just like that?"

"No," he smiled. "But I can start."

* * *

They had been working in fairly close proximity for the entire day. Not much outside of discussion of the BiFrost had been discussed, and Loki was thinking that he should make an attempt to engage with her.

After all, it couldn't be his intellectual acumen alone that would win her over.

"Have you any siblings?"

Jane looked up at him. "No."

"Hm. Well, probably for the best. My luck has been rather abysmal in that area."

"Oh…I dunno. Maybe you just didn't appreciate what you had."

"Mm. You're likely right. Everyone loved Thor so. Maybe it was my fault I couldn't see his many virtues…as for Hela…well. You never met her, but she was…" he paused. "Colorful, in a maniacal sort of way."

Jane smiled. "I would have loved a sister or a brother," she looked at the computer again, examining the maths. "Not in the cards, though."

"Why? What happened?"

She swallowed, unconvinced that she should be discussing such things with Loki. With Loki, of all people. "Well…my mom died when I was young, and my dad never remarried."

He nodded, deciding not to press it. It sounded like it might be a sad tale, and the last thing he needed was a sad Jane Foster. "Do you eat, Dr Foster?"

"You know, you might as well call me Jane. We'll be in each other's company a lot for the next few days," she sat back to consider him. "And ya. I eat. But we are working…and it's only…" she looked at the computer screen. "Shit."

"What?"

"It's eight thirty at night!" she jumped up. "How did the day get away from me?"

"I was wondering why I was hungry," Loki stood and rubbed his face. He had been pouring over Jane's text books and notes. "Hardly ever happens."

"What? Hunger?" she laughed.

"Well, yes," he shrugged.

She looked blankly at him. "Let's just get some take out. You like Chipotle?"

"What's…?"

"Never mind. You'll love it," she laughed.

And he followed her out of the building. She seemed to be easier…"Shall I just head back while you obtain the food?"

Jane stopped. "You want to go back to my apartment while I get the food?"

"Is that a problem?"

"Nooo…." but her expression betrayed doubt.

"I promise. I'll just go and change and wait for you."

She nodded dubiously and turned. "You know where you're going, right?" she waited a second, turned back…

He was gone.

"Whatever."

* * *

Loki appeared in Jane's living room and waved his hand. He had new clothes…comfortable clothes.

He sat and looked at the apartment. What a depressing little place. He sat back, thinking that Thor was probably wondering about him.

Wondering if he and Jane were getting along.

And Loki wondered at their split. Why was there so much bad feeling there? What had happened, exactly?

He shouldn't care. It was not his concern.

Get the mortal to Thanos.

That was it.

Everything else would fall into place.

"Hey…" he heard Jane open the door.

He turned. "That was fast."

"Well, luckily," she put the bags on the counter. "I know them there, and I just doubled my order. And they took care of it super quick."

He nodded and stood. "Thank you," he picked up the burrito. It was enormous. He was slightly offended.

He took a bite.

"This isn't bad," he declared.

"See? Everyone likes Chipotle," Jane smiled. They sat at her table and ate. "You know, if anyone would have told me that I'd pick up Loki, Thor's brother on the way home from Florida and we'd be sharing Chipotle within twenty four hours of returning, I'd've said they're lying."

"I'm a monster, Jane," he said slowly, but with a slight smile. "You'd do well to remember that."

"Yeah yeah," she shrugged. "I know. But we are keeping it professional, so I'm not too fussed about it."

"Exactly," he nodded, sitting back. "Tell me what happened with Thor."

Jane started to cough. "What?"

"Well, something happened. What was it?"

"I told you. I don't want to talk about it. I meant that."

Loki shrugged. "Very well…but I think we'd have a better understanding if you just told me."

Jane glared at him. "What about you, hm? Why did you invade earth?"

He blanched. "That's complicated," and he felt slightly ill from the mention.

"Well there you go then. When you tell me about that, maybe I'll tell you about Thor."

He smiled. "Touche, Jane."

And she laughed.

Jane would not allow him to get inside her head. Not at least with some back up of her own.


	6. Chapter 6

The compound was just that.

A compound.

And Thor, the god who wasn't, stood at a large window, peering out into a wooded area. There was some lovely vistas in upper state New York.

He thought that should it come to that, the Asgardians could conceivably stay there.

There were only a thousand or so. They could live there comfortably.

He sighed.

They weren't wanted there.

Where they were wanted, exactly, he couldn't say.

Maybe nowhere.

And Loki…what to do about Loki?

He turned and began to walk to the kitchens.

He assumed his brother would be coming soon. Within the next couple of days.

And he wondered if Jane would be with him.

Jane.

He supposed that he handled that in a less than desirable way…

But it needed doing.

He just thought that it would have been easier for both of them.

"You're up early? Or is it that you're still awake?"

Thor smiled at Tony sipping coffee. "I couldn't sleep. But then, I often go a few days without. I can manage," and he poured himself some coffee, which made him think about the first time he had it.

With Jane.

"I'd offer you a penny for your thoughts, but that, I guess, is too cheap for a god or whatever."

Thor smiled. "My thoughts are not worth much," he paused. "Where is everyone?"

"Everyone?"

"The rest of the team?"

Tony shifted. "Well, they're around. We have some new recruits. And then…Cap…he's…" he swallowed. "He's taking some time."

Thor nodded. He suspected there was more to that, but then, they neither of them are being completely forthright. "Hopefully he will figure himself out soon."

"So there's a lot to be done."

"I doubt that there's much until Loki comes with Jane's blueprints for the BiFrost."

"I'm disappointed, Thor," Tony replied, standing. "There are these Infinity Stones out there. And some mad Titan who's likely headed for earth. I'd say there's a lot to be done. We need to prepare and…assemble," he winked and spoke into his watch. "Friday. Set me up with a map of the immediate intergalactic earth area…"

"Where would you like it, sir?"

"Mm…conference room? Ready Point Break?"

"Setting up interactive intergalactic map in conference room A," Friday's voice rang out.

* * *

They had gotten to the lab early, and he was watching her covertly. She was proving to be a bit more tough to crack than he had anticipated. Even though it had only been a couple of days, he had believed she would feel more warmly toward him than she did by now.

He supposed he could just use some of the seoir…but…he sighed.

There was something very particular about this mortal that allowed her to withstand the aether. Thanos, a formidable enough being, wanted her in his possession.

And Loki was suddenly struck by a notion…

What if _he_ kept the Tesseract? What if he kept the mortal? What if he convinced Thor to fight the titan?

Perhaps he, then, could wear the infinity gauntlet…

Loki smiled.

It was a foolish thought, to be sure. Their best bet for survival was to flee Midgard without upsetting Thanos.

…and if he really thought about it, his primary concern needed to be Asgard. Whatever had happened, it was still where he belonged most.

Even though it was destroyed, like everything else he cared for.

They would need to hide.

He was not above hiding.

But his paltry attempts at disguise would not fool many…at least not the attempt he had most recently made.

All this, if he tried it, still meant that he would need to befriend Jane Foster.

This fact remained, no matter how he looked at it: he needed her.

His eyes snapped back to the maths as she glanced over at him. He swallowed. "How is Erik Selvig?" he regretted it almost instantly.

"What?" her eyes narrowed as he looked up at her.

"That is…I recall…you were…" he looked down once more. "Close."

"You've got to be kidding me."

He didn't answer. It was tactless to mention him. And silly, for it set up a line of questioning regarding that very thing he did not wish to discuss.

But he was desperate. He needed to get things going, for he only had a couple of days more. "You're right. I apologize for the reminder…I'm sure it was painful."

Jane shook her head. This guy. He sure had gall. "You really have no idea."

"I've had my share of pain, you know."

"Mm. I'm sure you have," and she couldn't shed the consternation from her voice.

"You doubt me?" he straightened his back.

"Yep," she smiled. "I think that your suffering is mostly self inflicted."

It was difficult to argue that point.

But he'd try. "You don't know me, Jane. It's hardly fair to make these claims without intimate knowledge."

"Try me," and she sat back, crossing her arms.

He cleared his throat. "Do you know what it's like to lose your identity?"

"What?"

"Who you think you are, Jane. Have you ever had that stripped of your self?"

"Ah…" she thought about that. She supposed that she couldn't say fairly that she did.

"Exactly. I have. And that, Dr Foster, is real pain…more poignant than anything physical I have heretofore experienced," he couldn't conceal the contempt in his voice.

Jane swallowed. "Are you talking about…about the fact that you're adopted?"

And he seethed. "Did Thor tell you this?" he whispered, standing.

"No," and she suddenly felt rather nervous. "No…I just knew."

"You just…knew…" and he walked over toward her.

And Jane suddenly felt the inclination to stand, but resisted it, because she didn't want to appear to be scared.

Even though she kinda was. "Yeah," she replied…not meekly. "What's the big deal, anyway?"

He paused. Big deal…? he had never heard of that before. "I…" his brow furrowed.

"What?"

"I've never heard that adage, but I think I can surmise that you believe me to be overreacting."

Jane smiled. "Look," and she folded her hands in her lap. "I know that you were hurt, but that's no reason to freak out and kill a bunch of people."

"What is a reason, then, Jane?"

"There's never a good reason for something like that."

"I didn't ask for a good reason. I asked for a reason," he folded his arms. "I'd venture that many killers believe they have ample reason for doing what they do."

"That doesn't make it right."

"I never said I wanted to be right," and he smirked.

Jane stood now. "So…you'd rather be wrong? I don't understand you."

"Things are seldom so black and white as that. Most of the time, it's a matter of whether or not something is understandable."

"I'll never understand why you decided to kill a bunch of people."

He took a step nearer. "And I'll never understand why you fell in love with my brother," he said, rather softly.

She blushed a bit and looked away. "That's complicated."

"It always is, Jane," Loki turned away from her and went back to the computer.

She sighed and sat back down. "I guess that's fair."

She couldn't believe that she just conceded to Loki. To Loki, of all people. But who was she to deny him the point, if it was, in fact, true?

Things are complicated. They are, because seldom is anything done with a single purpose in mind…

There's vexation, and misunderstandings…

And she honestly believed that most people were inherently good, they just made bad choices. She looked over at Loki.

Was it merely a bad choice he made to invade earth?

Maybe. Maybe she was looking at it too black and white, and with too narrow a scope. She had learned, with the arrival of Thor, that the universe was much, much more complex than even she had dreamed it. There were so many people out there. And magic…

She smiled.

Magic. She had to admit, she rather believed in it.

For what was a god of thunder if he wasn't magic?

And she glanced at Loki, the self proclaimed greatest sorcerer in the universe…

And she had to admit that she believed that he was magic, too.

Jane rolled her eyes.

What was happening to her hard logic and common sense?

She opened the window on her computer and told herself that she was bending to empirical evidence that could not be contradicted.

…and Loki sat back down to work.

This mortal…if he didn't need her so badly, he'd snuff her out there and then. He had never condescended to be talked to thus!

Even if he was wrong on some level.

She had gall, if nothing else.

And he recalled the slap she had given him some time ago…

Well, perhaps he had underestimated her on some level, given that particular knowledge.

But there was more to it than that…she was beguiling in her own right.

Intelligent.

Lovely.

Brazen…he was beginning to see what Thor had seen in her.

He needed to check himself. It was she who needed to be swayed, not him. "We should leave soon for New York," he began. "When can we run the tests?"

"Well…" Jane looked up. "Maybe tomorrow? Definitely Thursday."

"Good. Then we can head up by the weekend," he smiled. Only a few days more. "What do you say to dinner?"

"I'm starving," she replied, closing the laptop.

"Why not go out? We've been cooped up here and at your …?"

"Apartment," Jane supplied.

"Right. Apartment. For days. Time to get out, wouldn't you say?"

She sighed. "I guess," and she put her jacket on.

"Come now, Jane. It's not as bad as that," Loki smiled. "I can be a diverting companion."

"That's what I'm afraid of. I already trust you more than I should."

"Clever girl," and he held the door for her.

"There's a place just a couple of blocks over. Let's go there," she said as he followed her out.

And they headed out…the evening already rather dark.

They arrived at the gastropub and got a table.

"What do you recommend?" Loki asked, looking at the menu.

"Mm…the burgers are good. Rueben…oooh…the turkey melt. So good."

He furrowed his brow. "These all seem fairly…?"

"Delicious?" she offered.

"Nauseating," he countered.

"Well, your loss," and she ordered a drink.

Loki smiled and ordered a drink…"I suppose one could call it a loss. But one might also consider to be wise, considering the state of the things you consume."

Jane shrugged. "I don't have time to think about being healthy."

"Why?" their drinks came.

"Because I'm always working," she sipped. "I don't have the luxury to cook well, eat well…I'm moving all of the time, and convenience is of more immediate importance."

He nodded. "Is your work very difficult to navigate?"

"It is if you're a woman," she drank long.

"And you most certainly are," he smiled, sipping his own drink.

"Yeah…" she was suddenly uncomfortable. "So…"

"What happened between you an Thor?"

"Why do you want to know?" she said, irritated. They had covered this. "I told you repeatedly that I don't want to talk about this, and yet you continually bring it up. It's annoying and infuriating, and I can't decide which it is more."

"Because, Jane, I want to know what he did to lose you."

"I don't…"

"Call it background knowledge," he shrugged.

"If I tell you, will you promise not to mention this ever again? Will you forget I told you? And not talk to Thor about it?"

He sat back. This was too easy. "Of course."

"I'm not stupid, you know. If I tell you this, you need to tell me why you invaded New York."

He cleared his throat. He could embellish somewhat…"Agreed."

Jane looked at him very steadily, then raised her hand for the server. "Can I have two more, please? Him too…"

He gave her a quizzical look.

"Well," Jane began. "If we are doing this, I want to be as inebriated as possible, so maybe I'll forget the whole thing…" she drained her drink and looked at him. "I was never in love with Thor."


	7. Chapter 7

_I'm back! I hope you all enjoyed Infinity War. This story might incorporate some of the happenings in it._

 _I hope to finish this this summer, since I'm off of work._

* * *

She swallowed. It hurt somewhat to say it aloud like that.

"No?" he replied, with a somewhat doubtful look.

"He…he was enthralling. But love…"

Loki leaned in a bit. "You mean he abandoned you, and you are trying to save face."

"No," she spat. "When he came back to Earth, I told him that I needed time. You know, time spent together. And he wasn't willing to do that. He said some things…" and she swallowed, thinking about the things he had said.

And Loki sat back again. "Thor has never suffered disappointment, Jane."

"So?"

"So I find it difficult to believe that you would be the first to exact that emotion upon him."

"You don't know anything about me. I wouldn't be so quick to assume anything."

Loki nodded, a wry grin spreading across his face. "You're very right. I don't know anything about you. Except that you, like so many others, were enamored of my brother."

Their drinks came, and Jane downed one, then another. "I feel as though he tricked me," she said it softly.

"I beg your pardon?" and he drank his own.

"He…" she sighed. "There was so much that I thought I knew. I really never knew anything."

"About Thor?"

Jane nodded. "I was silly. And it's embarrassing."

He suddenly felt as though he understood completely what she was saying. He was able to relate. And this was somewhat unsettling.

His initial reaction was anger at this connection.

But then… "Do not trouble yourself over the opinions of others, Jane. Most care nothing for your suffering."

She shrugged. "I guess that sorta makes me feel better…?"

He smiled. "So he disappointed you."

She nodded.

"Well, there's a first for everything, I suppose."

"I believed him. I shouldn't have. He's a Prince…"

"King."

"King," Jane amended. "And he really can't be bothered with someone on another planet. It's not his fault. I was naive."

"Oh it's his fault, Jane Foster. But make excuses if you insist."

She glared at him. But…he was right, and she dropped her gaze. She was making excuses. And she hated that she was. "It was more than I thought it was. And I resented him for it," she paused, clearing her throat, and forcing a smile. "But I realized that I wasn't in love with him. I was just hurt and …like I said, embarrassed," she ordered another drink. "So. Why did you invade New York?"

He shifted in his seat. Why, indeed? There could be a million reasons. There could even be some he made up.

In fact, the more he thought about it, the more that seemed quite likely. The truth, so very slippery, was so often out of his reach.

He sighed and took a sip of his drink. "There are a few reasons why, Jane."

Her eyebrows crawled up her forehead. "Ok…?"

"The first is, I'm adopted. The second is, Odin never owned up to his own sordid past. The third is, well…I felt compelled. Thanos is an impressive figure."

"None of that makes any sense without you further explaining yourself."

His eyes fell and he nodded. He should not feel beholden to this mortal. He should not feel the need to explain anything…anything to her. "I had discovered that I was not an Odinson. That my family is of Jotunheim."

Jane had no idea what that meant. "Ok?"

He cleared his throat. "And that was jarring."

She nodded. "Yeah. I bet it was."

"I had…fallen. Through space. And landed on a dark planet…there I met with the Other. He told me of Thanos's power, and how that same power could be mine."

Jane stared at him.

"That's it."

"That's why?"

"I was owed a throne. Thanos promised me one."

She rolled her eyes. "So…thousands of people died because you had a temper tantrum."

He felt the anger rise a bit. "Tread lightly, Jane."

"Why? You had no compunction, ruthlessly murdering all of those people. Why should I be careful?"

"Because," and he leaned in slightly, "I can make you very sorry you didn't hold your tongue. We are on a mission, and that is why I am here."

"And now you threaten me. This isn't going much to plan," she raised her finger for another drink.

"Things seldom do, Jane Foster."

"Your plans, I guess, fell through."

A long breath escaped his nose and his eyes fell. They had. But he had been in such a state…sick with his choler…he hadn't considered anything, really, except power. That power which he meant to humiliate Odin with. Odin…he sighed and looked up at Jane. "My plans," he smiled. "No. I suppose they did not happen the way I envisioned. But then, it was unclear what my vision was, even at the outset."

"You were pretty lost, huh?"

Loki swallowed. "I was. Things have become…clearer. But still mucky and mired. The universe …the Tree…they are encountering uncertainty, even as we sit here."

"What's happening, Loki?"

He looked steadily at her. "Many things."

"None of them are good," she whispered.

He shook his head slowly. "Jane. There is something foreboding brewing. I've seen it…"

"What did you see?" her voice was barely audible.

His gaze faltered. He cleared his throat, and drank some more. "It is unclear as of yet, but there is something on the horizon…and the skies bleed …as though carmine…they shed the lives of the Tree's inhabitants."

Her mouth fell open. "That's what you've seen?"

Loki snapped himself out if it. "'Tis but a vision. And visions are often misunderstood."

Jane downed her drink. "Let's go. We need to finish the BiFrost."

"Now?"

She nodded. "Let's get back to the lab."

* * *

They had been there all night, perfecting the blueprints. Jane was suddenly quite determined.

And Loki worried at that.

He didn't believe that she liked him well enough yet…but, he still had the back up plan of his pretending to be in love with her in front of Thor.

He doubted whether that would suffice.

It was after five in the morning, and he could see that she was exhausted. "We are nearly done, Jane. Why don't we go back so that you might rest? We can discuss our trip to New York in a few hours."

Jane brushed the hair out of her face and looked at him. "Maybe you're right. I'm pretty tired."

"Just so," he smiled, standing.

…and he waved his hand.

Jane felt nauseous as she appeared in her living room. She sat unsteadily on her sofa. "Loki?"

"Hm?" he sat across from her in an armchair.

"What are we doing?"

"We are…well. We are building a…"

"…building a BiFrost. Yeah. But this is all so surreal. It really makes no sense. If something is coming here…"

"The BiFrost can aid in an escape."

"Of billions of people?" she sat back. "We need to make a plan of defense."

He studied her a moment. "What would you have me say?"

Tears formed in the corners of her eyes. "I don't know."

And he went to her, despite himself. He hadn't told her about Thanos. But, he also recognized the dire nature of everything. And…there had been the whiskey. Perhaps he had been slightly rash in his description.

He sat next to her, and hesitantly took her hand. "Tomorrow we will leave for the Avengers compound. Tony Stark will be able to begin the construction, and he and my brother, along with the others, will have started thinking about what to do. Everything will be all right, Jane. I promise," it hadn't been the first time his silver tongue had uttered a lie. It most certainly wouldn't be the last.

But it was the first time that he felt stung by it, and that caused him disquiet.

And Jane Foster nodded, closing her eyes, and causing the tears to spill from them. She rested her head on his shoulder.

Loki, not knowing exactly how to respond, wrapped his right arm around her and pulled her back into the sofa.

She curled against him, sobbing softly.

"Shh…" he whispered against the crown of her head.

…and before long, she was asleep.

He thought that he should get up, but resisted that notion ever so slightly. Jane was warm. And he hadn't been this close to someone in a long time…in fact, he couldn't really recall the last time.

He was using her, most odiously. He was using her now, as a means to gain comfort, and soon he would be using her to gain Thanos's favor. Or, at least his pardon.

His head fell back as he felt her soft breath.

What was it about this mortal woman? How had she managed to house the ether? What would happen to her once she was in Thanos's grasp?

He couldn't think about it. It might betray him…he might summon sentiment. And that, he could not afford.

What a nebulous plan he had. Playing games with a titan. With his brother. With Jane.

Even with himself.

But that was all he ever had…games. Smoke and mirrors.

He was a formidable sorcerer, yes. He wielded immense power.

But who he was…that was altogether different.

Loki closed his eyes, concentrating on the mortal's breath…steadily in, steadily out…there was something lulling in it.

And was this, then, what it was like to have a partner? A steady presence…a calming heartbeat…

Was this what Thor had felt while with her? When everything else was uncertain, Jane Foster's heartbeat was there still. Her support and existence.

He could see the attraction in that. There was a longing fulfilled in this…this, position of holding someone.

…Loki sunk into somnolence …dreamless and heavy.

* * *

She opened an eye, then closed it again. She had Thor's name on her lips, but it was gone before she recognized it. She swallowed…rubbed her eyes.

And then she realized where she was…

She sat up in a hurry and looked down.

She had been sleeping on Loki's stomach.

Jane covered her mouth with her hand.

"Jane?"

She swallowed, her heart was beating very fast; Jane dropped her hand and looked at him, offering a feeble smile. "Sorry."

"What for?"

"For…well. For falling asleep on you."

"I didn't mind."

Jane cleared her throat. "Oh," was all she could muster.

He held her gaze. "Did you?"

"I …." she was struck by a notion. A foolish one, to be sure…

She leaned over, and claimed his mouth.

He responded quickly, threading his fingers in her hair…sitting up and taking her with him…it had been so very long…centuries, even…he was delicate, mindful of her state, which was in itself, curious…

Jane felt devilish and enthralled. When was the last time she kissed someone? Thor, likely. And to feel someone's want like this…it was like drowning, and not caring at all.

She bit his lip, and he pulled away, a twinkle in his eye, then found her mouth again and leaned her into the sofa.

Jane felt heady…she pushed her hands against his chest. "Loki…" what was she doing? Losing her senses, she thought.

But he stopped. And sat up fully. His breath was labored. He swallowed. "Apologies."

She sat up, too. "Don't be sorry. I think we both needed that."

He was about to issue a protest. He did not _need_ to kiss a mortal…but then thought better of it. "Yes. Perhaps that's true."

Jane nodded. "I'll just get a shower, then."

"I'll follow afterwards. We need to finish up."

She stood and went to the washroom…a cold shower was in order.

And Loki sat there, hardly having moved since she stopped him from kissing her further.

He wasn't certain what had just happened. He should be pleased…all of a sudden things had progressed to a point where he should be fairly confident.

But he wasn't.

He was confused.

A state he was unaccustomed to, to say the least.


	8. Chapter 8

Jane was packing a bag.

She wasn't sure how long she'd be…but she figured that a few days worth of supplies would do the trick.

She heard Loki rummaging around, getting ready as well.

She put her laptop in the bag, zipped it up, and carried it out. "Ready?" she called.

He nodded.

"You don't have anything," she observed.

"I do. It's just…tucked away."

Jane shrugged. "Well…"

Loki nodded. "Let's go."

She locked her door and looked around. "Ok. I think it's early enough that no one will be watching. Plus, Saturday. People want to sleep." Jane swung the bag on her shoulder and got her keys. "Keys. Wallet. Phone," she checked all of the things in turn. "All right," and she went out the front door, Loki in tow. "Where exactly are we going?"

"Syracuse? Is that a place?" he thought that he had heard that as the name when they landed.

"Yep," Jane turned the car on and entered the information into her phone. She looked at Loki. "Six hours," she checked the time. "Well…we should get there by two with a stop. Do you think that three days there is enough time?"

"Jane…I have no idea. I'm not sure what's happened since I left. Thor hasn't been in contact."

She nodded. "All right. Let's go."

They sped off. She wasn't going to think about what had happened just a few hours previous. She wasn't, because it didn't matter. She may have enjoyed it, but that was utterly beside the point. They were going to New York, going to help Tony Stark build a BiFrost. And hopefully he'll be able to work some magic, get it going within a few weeks.

And all the while, they were dodging some unknown someone…Loki called him "Thanos"…and she was going to make Thor feel bad for the horrible things he had said to her.

And then she would leave.

He sat there, watching the buildings, then the trees, go by. He was ruminating on the morning, and kissing Jane Foster.

Why had she done it? Why had he allowed her to?

"Are you still tired?" she asked, a business like clip to her tone.

"A bit."

She cleared her throat. "Well, you could sleep."

"I could get us there in seconds."

"Yeah. You said that."

He sighed. "And what if we were followed?"

"Loki, are you going to get me home when I'm done there?"

He looked at her. It felt wrong to say that she might never _go_ home. "I could, yes."

She bit her lip, then furrowed her brow. "No. Driving is best…"

He sighed. She didn't trust him. Well, what did he expect, anyway? "If you insist on mortal transport, perhaps we could at least enjoy some mortal music…"

"You enjoy _mortal music?_ " she sounded aghast, but smiled nonetheless.

He chuckled. "Occasionally," and turned the radio on.

* * *

"Sir, you have a call."

"Thanks Friday. Patch it through," Tony Stark downed his coffee. He and Thor were looking at the possibilities for building the BiFrost. So far, the only thing they came up with was using vibranium. But the amount they required would be significant. "It's all in Wakanda. And I don't know if they'd be cool with us taking that amount…they haven't got much of it."

"Tony?"

He froze. It was Steve. Tony glanced at Thor. "Cap?"

"Hey Tony…look. I think we need to talk."

"Yeah? What's up?" he sat at the table with Thor.

"I…I know that we've been out of touch for a couple of years…"

"Uh-huh," he put his feet on the table.

Thor looked quizzically at him.

"But…there was an incident. With Wanda and Vision…they were in Scotland, and they were attacked. I'm here with Sam, Nat…" he paused. "We saw something."

"Whadya see?" Tony swallowed.

Steve cleared his throat. "Aliens."

And there was no sound. Thor sat back, staring at Tony. "It's begun."

"Is that Thor?" Steve said.

"Yeahhh…." Tony replied. "Look. We've got a situation here, too. Can you all get here to Avengers headquarters ASAP? We can fill everyone in. Have a drink. Maybe two. I'll spring for pizza," he disconnected. "Friday, arrange for Stark Jet to pick up those guys in Scotland. Inform Steve he's boarding with Wanda, Vision, Nat, and Sam in about five hours," he looked at Thor. "Where the hell is your brother?"

* * *

They had been driving for about two hours when the interference on the radio began.

"What's going on with the radio?" Jane looked at it.

"I'm not sure…" he was fiddling with controls. He waved his hand.

Nothing.

He leaned in closely to the device.

"Are you smelling the radio?" she laughed.

"No I'm not _smelling_ it. I'm listening closely…there's something…" he heard a voice. A deep, commanding voice. Loki sat back immediately. "Thanos."

"What?" she looked at him.

"He's near…where are we exactly?"

"Um…about one hundred miles west of New York City."

He looked to the sky. There was nothing. And he thought, he could be brave. "Jane. What do you say to a detour to New York City?"

She looked over to him. "What? Why? Want to reminisce about your failed coup?"

"No. I think that's where he's sending his lackeys."

"Who?"

"Thanos," he looked at Jane.

"And you want to _go_ there? I thought we were going to Avengers headquarters to give Tony blueprints, make Thor jealous, and then I'd leave…?"

"Well, if you don't want to go, I can send you on…" he thought that he might bargain with the lesser minions. Perhaps get a sweeter deal.

Jane sighed heavily. "I dunno…this isn't what we agreed on."

"Where's your sense of adventure, Jane? Have you no daring?" he curled a smirk, looking at her as she drove. "I'm disappointed. Scientists push limits, is that not so? Is that not why you kissed me shamelessly this very morning?"

Jane felt her cheeks flush. She couldn't believe he was bringing this up, but then, he _was_ Loki. She hated that she was considering his proposal. "What is the goal here, anyway?"

"A bargain."

"For?"

Loki looked out of the window. "I don't know what will happen, Jane. I do not know Thanos's desire, except that he wants the Infinity Stones, and at least one is here on Midgard. Possibly two. If he is heading to New York," he looked at her. "…or he's sending his cronies…isn't it best to see what they want, and head off possible war?"

"You said that they want Infinity Stones. _We_ don't know where they are. What possible use can we be to them?"

"The scepter I carried held one. And the Other told me that Midgard held another."

"Is that why you invaded?" she said softly. "To obtain another Infinity Stone for Thanos?"

"That's not why _I_ invaded, no. But it is possible that that was what Thanos ultimately desired from me being here, ruling your Earth."

She shuddered. "All right. We go to New York."

They turned around on the interstate, heading due West. Loki had no idea what he was going to do when he got there…he only knew that he had something that Thanos wanted in Jane Foster. If he could bargain with her, he might be able to stave off further harm to the Asgardians, and even to Midgard.

He looked at her. She was trusting him. He looked at his hands. He didn't trust Thanos…he hardly knew him. He had no way to ensure that he would leave them alone if he gave him Jane. And he didn't know why he wanted her to begin with…

Loki closed his eyes…Jane held the aether. Was it possible that he wanted her to retrieve it for him? Or rule with him?

Yes. But more likely, he wanted to ensure that no one threatened his rule. Anyone who could wield an Infinity Stone posed a danger to him.

He sighed and looked out of the window. He wanted to make things right. If one mortal was sacrificed, well. No one said that doing the right thing would be bloodless.

It was unchartered territory for him. This "doing the right thing" business.

But he knew that he could never go back, not really. He loved Thor. Despite himself, he did. And if that meant pretending to love his mortal, if that meant sacrificing her to Thanos, whatever it meant, he'd do it, to save themselves and their race.

So, they'd go to New York City. He knew that they were going there, he heard it. And, if nothing came of that, they'd continue to Syracuse. One way or another he'd get Thanos to listen and leave them alone.

"What are you thinking about?"

He cleared his throat. "Just…trying to plan our next move."

"What will you say to them? Are you just buying time, until you can build the BiFrost?"

"It's more complicated than that, Jane. But yes. There is that."

And they followed the signs to New York.

* * *

"You haven't spoken to Steve in a couple of years?" Thor stood.

"Stop changing the subject. How long do you think it'll take your brother to get Jane Foster here, anyway?"

"I'm not sure."

"I don't like it. We are facing something here…something big. Do you trust Loki?" he stood now. "After everything he's done?"

"No. But he means to prove himself, I think."

"With your girlfriend. Not a great plan."

"Jane isn't my girlfriend."

Tony put his hands up. "Whatever. Not my business. But you realize that without her blueprints, it'll take longer to build this thing. And I'm not really sure we should anymore. The idea of easier access to Earth with some Titan looking to invade is kinda nauseating."

Thor nodded. "We may need to change course," he sighed. "Banner is with us."

"What."

"I found him. But I think he wanted to keep a low profile."

"What the hell are you talking about? You've known Bruce was with you all along, and you kept that to _yourself_? We need to get one thing straight here, Point Break. You need to come clean."

Thor nodded, sitting back down. "I'll show you mine if you show me yours," he smiled. "You need to tell me everything, too."

* * *

They could see the Manhattan skyline in the not-so-far-distance. He drew a deep breath.

"You ok?"

"Yes."

Jane nodded. She honestly wasn't sure what she was doing, listening and agreeing with Loki. But she felt a sense of reckless abandon; her life had been such total shit lately. From being treated like a throwaway toy by Thor, to a maniac by the science community. She almost _wanted_ everyone to see her the way they thought she was. Either that, or to prove that she wasn't. She couldn't decide which she wanted more.

And those things had touched her thoughts when she kissed Loki. That same reckless abandon…

She didn't care anymore. She just didn't. She rather thought that she wanted to be left well alone. Hurting Thor was a bonus. Or at least, making him see what he'd lost.

So what if she was heading right to the danger? So what if she was road tripping with Loki? Everyone thought she was less than, anyway? Maybe she'd prove them wrong. Maybe she'd do the opposite. But she needed to do something. Anything. The status quo just wasn't doing it for her anymore.

She'd prove herself, and then they'd all see.

What they'd see, she wasn't sure. But Jane thought that she needed to do this. Do _something_.

"Welp, there it is…" she nodded to the towering buildings.

Loki swallowed. He hadn't counted on the dread he felt seeing the place again. He felt…guilty. He checked his attire. "Will this do, Jane?"

She looked at him. "What? For bargaining with aliens?" she laughed.

He shrugged. He was second guessing himself…

And then, as they waited at a stop light, he felt it. His skin prickled and he looked to the sky.

A ship was breaking through the atmosphere.


	9. Chapter 9

The noise was deafening and pervasive in the expanse between the steel monsters looming above them. Jane couldn't speak. Loki had gotten out of the car. "Stay here, Jane. I think it's best if I investigate alone," and he took a step forward.

Jane didn't respond. Her eyes were on the ship churning above in the Manhattan sky. It had just broken through the atmosphere, and the noise…she closed her eyes…it was deafening.

Loki closed the door. He waved his hand, and his armor appeared.

"Who are you?"

He turned, and there were two men, dressed in odd garments for New York. "Pardon me, but who are _you_?"

"Stephen Strange. This is Wong. What are you doing here, Loki of Asgard?"

"You know me?" and a grin split his face.

"I know your brother. And we met, briefly, if you recall."

Loki rolled his eyes, a vague recollection forming in his mind of a thirty minute fall. "In case it escaped your notice, there's a ship right there, and I'm attempting to discover who is on it, and what they want."

"Are you sure that you're the right person for that?" Stephen Strange looked questioningly at him.

"And whom do you propose would be a better choice? You?" Loki laughed.

"I'm the Sorcerer Supreme," and he moved his hands…sparks of orange appeared.

"You're a sorcerer?" Loki laughed. "Please. Don't embarrass yourself."

"You think I'm the one who should be embarrassed? You're the one with horns on your head," and Strange looked at the ship.

It was opening.

Loki's gaze snapped to the ship and he conjured a knife, but thought a gun would be more effective. He glanced over at Stephen Strange. His eyes were held fast on the ship. Loki looked back at the car…Jane was gone.

His heart skipped a beat.

"Greetings, fortunate ones," a silky voice fell from above them.

Loki looked at the thing gliding to the earth. There was an enormous giant coming with another alien, one who was riding something…a hovercraft of some sort. His back straightened and he thought, _where in the name of Odin is Jane?_

"You have the great privilege of being some of Thanos's victims. Rest knowing that your deaths were in service to him, and his glorious purpose."

"I know about glorious purposes…" Loki began. "Not usually as glorious or as purposeful as intended."

"You…Asgardian," began the alien.

"I …Asgardian," he repeated. "And I wish to know what it is that you want from this realm."

"That is the business of the Titan."

"Unfortunately, the Titan is not here, so what is _your_ business with Midgard?"

The hovercraft landed. "My business is Thanos's business. And he desires that jewel," he pointed at Stephen Strange. "And the mortal."

Loki swallowed. "Surely we can discuss a bargain…"

"There is no bargaining," and the alien began to raise his hands.

Stephen Strange brandished his weapon. "You'll not be taking anything. This gem belongs to the Mystic Order."

"It does not belong to anyone, mortal fool," and the alien took his magic and slammed the sorcerer against a wall.

Loki summoned his magic and created a slice of space between the two. If he could obtain the gem…

And where was _Jane_?

He hated that he was babysitting a mortal.

"Let's not get ahead of ourselves…" Loki said, holding the space in his grasp. "Surely Thanos can be reasoned with."

"You attempted this on the ship, Prince. There is no bargain."

Loki sighed. He looked at Stephen Strange, and made his decision. It was a shocking one, and impulsive…he waved his hand, and Strange disappeared. "What was that about no bargaining?"

* * *

Jane Foster was moving through the crowd toward the ship, but from behind. The battle, or whatever it was, was some fifty feet in front of her.

And she had no idea why she was attempting to do the thing she was about to do.

Yet she did, in a way, and she thought she was very stupid to try. A year ago she wouldn't have done it.

She peered up at the circular ship spinning, mere feet from the ground. It was causing such a slipstream that she had trouble getting closer. When she thought about what she was trying to do, she felt ill.

Jane stood there, swaying a bit, and looked for an opening.

* * *

Loki smiled at the alien. "I'm sorry. Are you speechless?"

"What did you do with him?"

"He's gone. And unless you're willing to listen to our demands, he'll stay gone. Along with his Infinity Stone."

If possible, the alien grew paler.

"Your unfortunate lack of a nose seems to have impaired your ability to reason quickly," Loki backed away. "Allow me to supply you with the proper response. Yes, Thanos will bargain. Yes, we can negotiate through his lackeys. Of course, there will be no invasion," he held his hands out, palms up. "Wasn't that easy?"

The alien drew his magic, but Loki was quicker. He held the seoir fast, and encased him in a cage.

"Amateur," he muttered, turning. What would he do with this alien now? This was certainly not part of his plan.

And then his eyes spotted something unbelievable.

Jane Foster was slipping into the ship via a doorway at the base.

* * *

She looked up into the expanse of the ship. It was certainly more impressive on the inside. She had no idea what she was going to do, but she thought, perhaps, she might be able to influence these people.

But Jane was no diplomat. She had no idea what she was doing here. It was simply part of her new tendency to be reckless…

She sighed and began walking up some steps.

…and she heard something.

Her breath caught.

Someone was here in the ship with her.

She crept along the stairs, more mindful now of any noise she was making.

"What's he doing," someone muttered.

Jane swallowed. She peered around a wall and saw the command of the ship. And there, looking down on Bleecker Street, was an enormous someone. She felt her hands shaking. This wasn't what she had pictured. She had rather thought that they'd send the muscle down to fight, while all of the weaker aliens stayed aboard the ship waiting.

This guy was no small alien.

"Shit," she breathed. _Now_ what can she do? Was it too late to try to disembark and find Loki? Should she stay and try to reason with the hulk of an alien? She had no weapon.

Jane scanned the immediate area.

No…nothing.

And suddenly, Jane's mouth was covered and she was being pulled back into the stairwell.

She was panicked…her hands were on the assailants' own…

And then he whispered in her ear. "What are you _doing,_ Jane Foster?"

She relaxed, and his hands fell. "I'm attempting to…" she turned.

"Shh," he lifted his finger to his lips…he heard the beast moving.

"Where is that Ebony Maw? He's not going to be happy."

Loki took Jane's hand, and led her away from the front of the ship. Ebony Maw…one of Thanos's lackeys. He was on Midgard, in a cage…and he needed to get Jane and himself out of this ship. He wasn't certain where the ship was going, but he imagined back to Thanos.

If he got himself too close to the Titan without all of the things the brute wanted, then he'd end up with a split throat. And that wouldn't do anyone any good.

He led Jane up to the topmost overlook of the ship. It appeared as though the giant was leaving the sorcerer alien on Midgard. He was steering the ship up and away from the ground.

This, he had not planned on. None of this…

He let go of Jane and glared at her. "What have you done."

"I …" she didn't know. She couldn't answer…her impetuous behavior had led them here…she was supposed to be going to upstate New York. She was supposed to be dropping off blueprints…Jane swallowed. She didn't recognize herself. She was so hurt, so beaten down by life, that she had become reckless…and hanging around Loki probably didn't help.

What _had_ she been thinking, sneaking onto an alien ship?

Proving the scientific community wrong?

Attention from Thor?

"This is insufferable, Jane Foster," he hissed. "We are on our way to gods know where, with that enormous monster…" _playing right into Thanos's hands._ He had lost. There would be no bargain…

Unless he could convince the Titan that he had brought her willingly. And he had that Midgard sorcerer tucked away…Loki looked down at the commandeer. He could probably dispose of him.

"I'm so sorry, Loki," she whispered. "I wasn't really thinking. Just acting. And I really screwed this all up."

He looked at her, her face contorted with guilt. And he sighed. "I'll take care of it," he said. And he began to walk back down the stairs. But then he turned. "Don't move."

She nodded, watching him descend the staircase, and wondering what he could possibly do.

Loki was trying to be as silent as possible…his only real advantage here was the element of surprise. He could likely summon any number of weapons…but would they be of use on the brute?

He conjured a long staff, thinking he might be able to sever his head from behind. He could remove him altogether, but how long Loki would be able to hold him wherever he put him was a question he wasn't keen on answering.

He stepped into the command center gingerly…swallowing and hoping that the beast wouldn't hear him.

…step by painful step, he approached…

And Cull Obsidian turned just then, his eyes wide.

Loki smiled meekly. "Hi," he said.

And the monster snarled, and with an enormous wave of his arm, went to knock Loki over. Loki dove, and Obsidian missed. He summoned his magic, creating a barrier between them. He heaved, as the brute banged against it, and Loki could feel it weaken with every strike. He split himself and teleported to behind the beast, and the other self hit him from behind with the spear.

Obsidian felt that indeed, and turned around to see nothing, but felt the spear in his back.

At that, Loki dropped the shield and wrenched the spear from its back. He struck again, Cull Obsidian collapsed to his knees, and once more…

…and something fell on top of Obsidian.

Loki looked up to see Jane with a knife and a smile.

She had loosed an overlook, and it fell on top of Cull Obsidian.

He smiled back at her and looked at the mangled mess in front of him. Somehow he'd need to rid himself of this thing…

With that thought, the giant reared and threw the steel mass up over his head, sending it crashing through a door on the ship. The thing blew the door out, creating a vacuum in the ship…Cull Obsidian grasped hopelessly at the floor while Loki took hold of the stairway…

Obsidian was gone.

And Loki took the seior, covering the hole with it and destroying the vacuum. He breathed a sigh of relief, and looked up at Jane.

"That was some knife," she said, walking down to him as he stood. "It cut through metal."

"I choose my weapons carefully," he said, wiping his brow. "How did you get it, anyway?"

"You dropped it, and I caught it before it hit the floor," she shrugged.

He gazed curiously at her, but walked to the ship's helm. "We are on some sort of crash course…the ship knows where to go."

"You mean it's on autopilot?"

He furrowed his brow as she came to stand next to him. "Autopilot?"

"Yeah. It's driving itself…" Jane looked out into the expanse of the galaxy. She was _here_ , among the stars. She had always dreamed of being this close. And now she was.

With the God of Mischief.

"Well, it appears to be…" he admitted. "I suppose I could figure out how change course…" but he thought, why? He had the sorcerer. He had Jane. Maybe just bring them to Thanos. It would save time…

"No. Let's keep going," Jane said, her recklessness nudging her forward. "Where's everyone from New York? That alien and the sorcerer?"

"The alien is still in New York, and the sorcerer…well," he smiled. "Let's just say he's well in hand."

He had to admit to himself, he was rather good at improvising and making do with volatile situations.

"So…" she looked up at him. "Do you think we're heading for Thanos?"

He shrugged. "It's likely."

"Awesome," said Jane, as she watched the heavens fly by.


	10. Chapter 10

" _What_ happened?" Thor's voice was indignant. He wasn't sure that he heard correctly…Tony had been talking on the phone.

And Tony looked at him. "Apparently your wayward brother took a flight."

"Flight?"

"He's on a ship, heading god knows where, and he's got Jane Foster with him."

Thor felt the blood pulse his temples.

 _Loki._

He did it again.

"Steve and the others should be here in an hour. I'm gonna get what plans we have together and start on a counteroffensive. No time for your BiFrost, Point Break. We've got a planet to save…" and he left him there.

Thor shook his head. What _could_ he be up to? This was insufferable. He knew that Jane and he weren't together, and yet he still used her to his own end.

He didn't know what he was going to do, he just knew that he needed to get Jane back. She had suffered repeatedly because of him, and he needed to make amends somehow. Thor got up and left the room to look for Tony. He hoped that this wouldn't end in disaster, though there was increasing likelihood that it would.

* * *

He looked out into the black expanse. He wondered for a moment if he shouldn't try to turn the ship around. He wasn't certain that this was the best way to handle this…heading for Thanos full on.

But he was hard out to find a more efficient way to do this. Yes, he might be going to the Titan, but wasn't that what he wanted? Hadn't it been his plan to either give Jane to him directly, or convince Thor that giving her to him was the only way to peace? This was better. Saved him the trouble of further compromising himself with a mortal. Of having the burden of feigning attachment to her.

"What are you thinking about?"

He turned, almost forgetting that she was so near. "Nothing," Loki replied. He thought that he might begin his honest treatment of her, but then that would made for a tiresome trip. "Just…thinking about what we should do once we see Thanos."

"We should attempt to bargain with him," Jane said, her brow furrowed. "Isn't that what you were trying to do in New York?"

"Well, now that we are heading straight for him, I guess I thought maybe a different approach was warranted," and he turned away from her.

Jane sighed. "What do you mean, a different approach?" it was exhausting sometimes, dealing with Loki.

"He's a Titan, Jane. He wields much power without any weapon or magic. The fact that he can wear the Infinity Gauntlet is proof enough," he folded his arms and rubbed the bridge of his nose.

"Infinity Gauntlet?"

He looked at her. "A…glove?"

"I know what a gauntlet is," she dismissed, approaching him. "But what is the Infinity Gauntlet specifically?"

"It can hold the stones on it, and together, they can do the wearer's bidding," he looked down at her. She seemed so innocent, peering up at him.

"So just having them isn't enough?"

"Well, I don't know. Few can hold just one…let alone all six."

Jane looked out of the ship's window at the helm, not really seeing anything. "I did," she whispered.

Loki swallowed. He would need to tread very lightly. "Yes."

"How?" she walked away from him. "How could I hold an Infinity Stone?" she paused...how had she not considered this. "I never thought about it…"

"For someone who thinks for a way to earn her living, you'd think you would have considered it to be odd."

She turned and glared at him. "There were a lot of things going on. I didn't have time…"

"Oh yes. I'm quite sure a lot was happening. Not the least of which was your pining over my brawny brother," he rolled his eyes.

"London was being invaded by the Dark Elves," she spat. "And you…" she narrowed her eyes. "What happened to you, exactly?"

"What happened to me?" he felt his anger and some consternation grow. "Mortal, I need not answer your paltry questions."

"Now I'm mortal, am I?" she walked over to him, standing a foot in front of him. "I thought we were a team."

And his stomach fell a bit. She was very close…"Jane. It does no good to be angry when Thanos awaits us at the end of this journey. We'd best come up with a plan."

"Don't placate me, Loki. Answer me, and then we are going to think about how I could hold the aether," she swallowed, looking down. "Inside of me."

"I survived and returned to Asgard."

"How?"

"I have a lot of magic. I was able to heal the wound and get back…" he almost choked on that last word, but managed, "…home." Because it was the only one he ever knew.

And it was gone.

She nodded. "And what did you do?"

"On Asgard?"

She cocked a brow.

He ran his hand through his hair and walked away. "I sat on the throne after putting Odin in a safe place. Thor didn't return…he said he was going to Midgard to …" he paused. "Well," and he looked at her. "I assumed he was coming for you, but I suppose that was wrong."

"You got rid of Odin and sat on the throne? To pretend being King?"

"I _was_ King. I was not play acting, Jane Foster."

"And did you have your fill, then?"

"It was fine," he shrugged. And he wasn't lying. He liked telling people what to do and having them do it without question. But…there was something missing.

They weren't doing it because of him. They were doing it because of his lie.

"I should be furious with you, but I bet Thor already was. And my anger probably wouldn't matter to you, anyway."

Loki shrugged, imagining Jane angry with him.

It was more unsettling than he could admit.

So he didn't say anything.

"Right," she muttered, turning from him and moving to the window.

He swallowed. "Jane…I've lost my home. I'm trying to save my people from extinction."

She felt awful, hearing him say that. She closed her eyes. "Ok."

"Ok?"

"I mean, I understand. And I think that we need to get a plan going and figure out why I was able to hold the aether," she turned now to look at him. She didn't _really_ understand, but she didn't want to argue, either. "Maybe we can use it to our advantage."

He considered her for a moment. While he had thought in passing about the why of her abilities to contain an Infinity Stone, he hadn't perseverated on it, because he had more pressing concerns. He didn't really _care_ _why_ she could, she could, and that was that.

But it was odd indeed that she was able to. A mortal…"What do you know of your parents?"

Jane sighed and sat on a step which lowered into the stern. "Dead."

"Dead?" he went over and sat next to her.

Jane nodded.

He sighed. "Do you have any information at all about them?"

She sat back. "Erik knew them. My mother was beautiful, he said. My father…well. He said he was brilliant."

"And what about their origins?"

Jane looked at him, brow furrowed. "What do you mean?"

"Just that. What do you know of where they came from?"

"Um…my mom was from Boston? My dad…Erik wasn't sure."

Loki looked out into the blackness of space. "There's something not right with that. How can you not know?"

"Because I'm an orphan and it hurt too much to try to discover anything. Erik raised me. I didn't ask questions."

"A poor practice for a scientist."

She bit back a retort. "What does my parentage have to do with this?"

"Everything. A mere mortal could not wield an Infinity Stone."

"So…you're saying…" she felt ill. What if she had been wrong for all these years? What if her parents weren't just scientists? "You're saying that…"

"I'm saying that you're not just Midgardian. You must have other blood in you," and he looked at her. What good would it do, really, to discover her parentage? How could it help him, ultimately? He cleared his throat. "There are catacombs of papers…stories…on Alfheim. Perhaps we could try that. Let the ship here go to Thanos, empty."

"How can we get to Alfheim?"

"Oh Jane. I have many ways of traversing the Tree," he smiled.

"But…what about…what about Earth?" she was about to say, 'Thor,' but didn't. Her schemes suddenly felt so immature.

"We can be on Alfheim, search, and get back to New York in hours."

She shook her head. What was she _doing_. "Ok," and she stood.

"Excellent," and he stood with her, and took her hand. "Now, this might be a touch uncomfortable…" he paused. "Do you trust me?"

 _No, not really._ She nodded dubiously.

…and he slipped them through the seam of space time…she felt herself being squeezed past endurance…she was going to be sick…

…and when she was able to breathe, she opened her eyes.

She coughed, gagging…and looked around her as she leaned on Loki for purchase.

She saw a glowing world, full of lush trees and soft hues. There were buildings in the distance. She smiled a bit, doubting that they would discover anything of consequence, but delighted at the scene in front of her.

And Loki, for his part, relished her closeness a bit too much. He needed to check himself. His wavering would not yield the results he desired…

But what he desired was becoming more and more murky to his mind.

* * *

The ship was landing softly on Titan.

And Thanos, the great Titan himself, was waiting for it. Ebony Maw and Cull Obsidian had not contacted him, so he was a bit concerned.

The ship turned and churned, landing and throwing bits of earth everywhere. Thanos approached, waiting for the hatch to open.

It didn't.

His mind grew angry, and he walked over, opening it himself…"Hello, my children!" he called, entering.

No answering call.

Thanos walked up the stairs, and looking around, discovered that no one was there.

It was empty.

His ire burned, and he seethed…had they been attacked on Earth? Had his children been harmed?

Did this mean that the mortals had more Infinity Stones? Could the elusive Soul Stone be there, too?

"Proxima!" he yelled, leaving the ship…the Power Stone was in place in the gauntlet. But it was the only one he had.

The trickster, Loki…he had the Tesseract, he was sure of it.

Tivan on Knowhere…

The Time Stone was with that ridiculous sorcerer…

And the Mind Stone was somewhere on Earth.

He would discover what happened to his children.

He would then obtain that mortal before heading to Knowhere, and he would have the Time Stone and the Mind Stone in hand.

And he would see if Thor's mortal could hold the Reality Stone…

…before he disposed of her.

He smiled.

No one but he can be allowed to wield an Infinity Stone.

* * *

"Hope the jet was comfy," Tony said, kicking back and looking around.

"Great. Really nice. Thanks, Tony," Steve smiled at him. "So…what do we know about those aliens?"

"Not much, except that a couple more invaded New York a few hours ago. And we got a couple of renegades we are now looking for," Tony looked at Thor.

"Who?" Steve's eyes narrowed a touch.

"My brother," began Thor. "And Jane Foster."

"Your ex-girlfriend is on the run with your criminal brother?" Natasha laughed. "I mean, that's good stuff. You should write a book."

"This is no laughing matter," dismissed the thunderer. "Loki was attempting to gain some acceptance and redemption. We don't know exactly what happened. All we know is that they were on the ship, and one of Thanos's lackeys is in a cage on Bleecker Street."

"Bleecker Street?" Steve looked at Tony. "What's on Bleecker Street?"

"Well, that's sorta funny. Looks like there's a Sanctum Santorum there."

"A what?"

"Loki appears to have put a sorcerer of some sort…" Tony paused, looking at Thor. "Somewhere. This guy has an Infinity Stone. He lived on Bleecker Street."

Steve Rogers sighed and folded his hands on the table. "Start from the beginning."

Tony smiled. "Ok. First things first. What's with the beard?"


	11. Chapter 11

"So…we're looking for an alien and a sorcerer," Steve Rogers was repeating. "And then, a Titan might be on his way, but we're not sure when, and have no idea how to fight him."

"Nicely recapped, Cap," Tony held his cup of coffee up to him.

"Thanos can be defeated. I only need to replace my hammer."

"You lost your hammer?" Natasha said, astonished. "Nice one leaving that out."

"Well, lost is a bit of a strong word," Thor shrugged.

"What's a good word, then?"

"I …suppose it was destroyed by my sister the Goddess of Death is a better way to say it."

"Where's your sister? Are we able to recruit her?" Natasha was practical to a fault.

"Ah no. She's either dead or worse. Surtur destroyed Asgard, and Hela presumably with it. She drew her power from Asgard, so with it gone, she's…"

"Powerless," supplied Steve. "Ok. So no Goddess of Death," he looked around. "Anyone know where Banner is?"

"He's with my people," said Thor.

"Bruce is taking a day or two," Tony stood and poured some more coffee. "He'll be ready to suit up when the time is right."

"When is the time right, exactly?" smirked Natasha.

Tony winked at her. "Where are our wayward lovebirds? We need to protect Vision and that thing in his head," he sat down again. "Because Thanos is coming for him."

* * *

 _Mortals are so very fragile._ Loki steadied her and thought this in passing. He looked out into the expanse of Alfheim, trying to remember when the last time he was here. He didn't want to be poorly received, not when they were looking to traverse the catacombs. The Light Elves were a kindly race, but not everyone on Alfheim were, and Loki wanted to be sure that the Elves were on his side in case they ran into others.

They were also fiercely protective of their records, and with good reason.

There was nothing like it in the Tree.

"This place is incredible," Jane breathed.

"Alfheim is lovely," he admitted. "The ah…library of sorts we need to get to is just on the edge of the city there. It's but a mile or two. Can you walk?" he looked over at her.

"Sure," she smiled.

"Good. It's worth the effort of walking to see the it fully," and he started down the smallish hill.

Part of Jane wondered at her willingness to follow Loki wherever. She should be more cautious around him.

But he had been mostly fine since they met up.

Working together on the blueprints for the BiFrost, though that never came to fruition. She thought about how they got steadily more comfortable with one another…

And then she thought about that kiss that they shared…

How long ago was that, now?

Had it been only that morning?

Jane looked at him as he walked next to her. "How long will we be here?"

"A few hours, I expect."

"Do you honestly think that my father or mother are in papers here?"

"Well, if they're not, then mortals are not at all what anyone imagined them to be. But it's highly unlikely that you're _just_ mortal. I'm not certain that I could hold an Infinity Stone without something like the scepter I used."

"Right," she said, memories of what he did with that scepter momentarily filled her thoughts…but she dismissed them, having promised to move on from it. "Did you attempt to hold it?"

"I did not."

"Can _anyone_ hold an Infinity Stone?" she was beginning to think that there was something wrong with her, not special.

"Well, I'm not sure. I'm not exactly an expert on the things. In fact, I knew very little about them until I met the Other…" he said softly.

"Maybe understanding them better can help us defeat Thanos."

He stopped at that. "It's doubtful that we'll be defeating Thanos, Jane. A bargain is what we should be aiming for."

"But wouldn't it be better to defeat him outright?"

"Perhaps," and he started walking again. "But I wouldn't count on anything. Best to keep our goals realistic."

"This, coming from the God of Mischief."

He chuckled. "And as the God of Mischief, it's prudent to know when to back down. We can survive, but we might not win, exactly."

"What constitutes winning, in this?" she muttered.

"Killing the Titan," Loki said with conviction.

Jane sighed and kicked a stone on the ground. Killing the Titan. She looked at the foliage covering the floor just next to them on the lane. "Can we stop a moment?"

He sighed inaudibly. "Are you tired?"

"No. Just wanting to enjoy this …" what? "…this, sojourn to another realm," she smiled.

"You forget. We are trying to save yours and my race from Thanos's ire."

"How can I forget, Loki? But what would ten minutes matter?"

He decided not to argue, and followed her into the glen. Jane walked along the split of trees, out toward an overlook. She was high on a precipice, and as she looked out, she exclaimed, "It's a circumbinary planet!"

"A what?" Loki stood next to her.

"Look! Two suns!" she pointed.

"Oh," he sat down on the rock edge.

"Oh?" she was aghast. "That's all? 'Oh'?"

"Well, I've seen it before."

Jane shook her head and sat next to him. "What do you know about Alfheim?"

"Many things."

She waited. "And? What specific things?"

"Jane, this really is a waste of our time. Isn't it better to continue to head toward the catacombs?"

"I want to learn what I can, Loki. Can't you just tell me a few things?"

He swallowed, looking at her earnest face. She was sincere. "Very well. Let's see…" he paused, looking away and out into the landscape. "Alfheim is home to about half a dozen races. The Light Elves are the most advanced…but there are some other peoples who have populated it. Odin's ravens are here," he paused. "The Light Elves are incredible artisans. They are skilled ironworkers, and able writers and record keepers. They hold magic, but not quite as much as some of the other Realms. They consider it their duty to keep records of things, so that mistakes aren't repeated."

"That makes sense."

"Yes. But we seldom heed that advice," he tossed a stone into the valley below.

"Where did you get _your_ magic?"

"Frigga. But the Frost Giants also hold it."

"Were you close with your mother?"

He cleared his throat. He nodded.

"I'm sorry," she whispered.

And he felt some anger brim…she was _sorry_? He didn't need her pity. Her concern. "We should go."

"I mean it, Loki. I am sorry…" she reached for his hand.

He took it away. "No apology necessary, Jane. Let's go," and he went to stand.

"Don't do that," she said. "Don't avoid it. It's my fault she's dead. She was trying to protect me."

He hadn't known that. "What?" he said softly.

And for the first time in days she felt some inkling of fear. "She…she was fighting the Dark Elves, and Malekieth …he…"

"Stop. No more. I do not care to hear," why hadn't Thor told him?

Because there was no reason to. Why should he care how and why Frigga died? Jane Foster was nothing to him.

She was nothing to him…

He looked at her.

And her sepia eyes were peering earnestly back at him. He felt himself waver under her gaze. "Jane," his mouth was very dry. "This is…painful for me. Even more painful to admit that it hurts. And I do not wish to discuss it."

She swallowed. "Right. I understand."

"Thank you."

She smiled at him. How much she had misunderstood about Loki! She had honestly believed him to be pure evil, but now…

Now she saw him as someone who had lost their way. Maybe he was trying to find his way back. "We should go," and she went to stand.

Loki stood first, and offered her his hand up.

Jane took it, and as he pulled her to standing, she realized too late that she hadn't resisted enough, and crashed into his chest. "Sorry!" she said loudly, muffled by his tunic.

He felt her breath against him through his clothes, and he felt her pulling away. And there was a part of him that wanted to hold her close, not let her leave. "It's all right, Jane Foster," and he stepped back. "Let's get going."

She nodded, following him out of the copse and back onto the road. Jane shoved her hands into the pockets of her sweatshirt, thinking. "Where did you put that sorcerer?"

"He's safe."

"But where?"

"In between."

"What? In between?"

"Yes. He's fine. Likely sleeping. I'll get him once we've returned to Midgard."

Jane shook her head, her mouth set, but didn't press it.

And they walked on for another ten minutes, until they reached the bottom of the path…and there they saw the tops of the city Loki had pointed out an hour ago.

But from this vantage point, it was much larger, though not as big as any Earthen city Jane was accustomed to. It looked much like a town in Switzerland, if she had to describe it. Nothing terribly alien. "Lovely," she observed.

He nodded to her and led her to the largest structure…stone mostly. "Here we are," he said, and he ascended a set of stairs.

"Where is everyone?"

"It's harvest time on Alfheim, so everyone is at the market. They'll be returning in a bit, but most live outside Alne."

"Alne?"

"The city we are in," he walked up to the door. "This place used to be the capital, but has since been usurped by Yggdrasil City."

Jane simply nodded as Loki opened the door.

"Nindrol!" he exclaimed.

The elf appeared to roll his eyes. "Prince Loki," he nodded. "What…" he cleared his throat. "Ah…why are you here?"

"We are here to canvass the great knowledge of Alfheim," he smiled.

"And what specific knowledge do you seek?"

"We are looking specifically for ancestral knowledge," he began. "My companion here is Thor's near-intended, however she is but mortal. We are looking to see if her deep ancestry might not appease the God of Thunder and his regal obligations to his people."

"I understand that your home was recently lost," Nindrol said, not unkindly.

"That is true, yes. So it would mean all the more to the Aesir if we could offer them a worthy Queen," he paused. "To begin afresh."

He waffled a bit, then nodded. "Come. I'll take you to the correct place."

Loki followed, winking at Jane.

"What do you know of the Infinity Stones?" she asked Nindrol.

"Infinity Stones?" he glanced back at her. "How does a Midgardian mortal know of those?"

Loki elbowed Jane, his eyes wide. _How could she be so indelicate?_

"I'm a scientist on Midgard, and I had heard Thor talking about them," she looked at Loki wide eyed, as if to say, _Was that ok?_

"The Infinity Stones are not playthings, Miss…?"

"Selvig," supplied Loki. It was possible that Thanos knew her surname, in which case, he did not want it to get back to him that he and the mortal were spending time on Alfeim.

"Selvig. But we have information about them, to be sure."

"Maybe after we look at my lineage, we can…"

"Only if we have time, Miss Selvig. You know how Thor always wants you back in a timely fashion," Loki chastised.

"Yes. But perhaps…"

"Perhaps we should allow Nindrol here to take us to where we need to go, and worry about your side-interests later."

She cleared her throat, walking down the stone steps into the catacombs. It was lit by torches, and there were doors about every ten steps on either side.

Down, down they went…

"Do you have lineage information on every person in existence?" Jane asked.

"Nearly," said the elf. "Here we are…" and they reached a landing. The doors on either side were adorned with wooden carvings. They were massive in size and structure. "This one," he pointed to the one on the right. "Holds the information about the lower Realms. This one," the one on the left now. "Are the higher Realms. Both Midgard and Asgard…and some about Alfheim and Vanaheim, even Valhalla, will be to the left. I suggest you start there," and Nindrol opened the door.

Inside were wooden shelves and stacks…maps on walls…there was more information than Jane could ever hope to traverse. "Ok," she breathed, thinking that she needed some coffee and food.

…and Nindrol closed the door behind him.


	12. Chapter 12

Loki looked around and waved his hands. The torches were suddenly brighter. "All right, Jane Foster," he began. "You go left…" and he headed toward the shelves on the right.

"Ok," she muttered to herself.

Time was of the essence, and she was a bit overwhelmed by the task set before her.

Jane walked to her left and looked up at the stacks. Each held a Realm's engraving on it.

Asgard.

Alfheim…she walked further on.

…Midgard. The last ten or so stacks were Midgard. Jane turned into them and began reading the titles:

 _Christianity on Midgard_

 _Wars During the First Age_

 _A Midgardian View of the Christian Influence_

They were all about war and religion…

And she thought that some day, if everything worked out, she'd love to return to this place. But at this point, she wasn't sure what _working out_ meant.

"Jane! Over here!"

She turned, hurrying down the aisle…and she sped up in her excitment, down the end of the stacks, then turned right. She hadn't realized that the stacks split and a good bit of the back were of Midgard. "What?" she breathed, reaching Loki.

"Here. These shelves here are of lineage…" he pointed upward. The books reached the ceiling, and were at least ten full stacks. "There are more on the opposite side, as well as behind us."

"Oh my god…" thousands of books…she shook her head. "Well, are they alphabetized?"

"They are, but are categorized by year first," and he pulled a volume from the shelf. "See? This is the year eight hundred forty three, BCE," he pointed to an embossed inscription at the beginning of the book.

"Well that won't help us," she dismissed.

"It was meant to explain to you how they categorize," he replied with some irritation, and put the thing back.

"Will it have my parents the year I was born?"

"What year were you born?"

"1981," she shrugged.

He smiled. "So young."

"Young?"

"Jane, I'm over fifteen hundred years old. You'd do well to mind your elders," and he chuckled a bit, turning to the stacks to Jane's back.

"Whatever," she said, following his lead.

Loki perused the shelves. _1981…1981_

"The twentieth century, CE," he announced.

Jane started reading the spines…they were divided by decade…and there were the eighties. She grabbed the book, and sat on the floor.

"F…" she said. "F…" my god there were a million pages. The tome was huge and heavy.

"Jane, why don't we take that to the table just there?" Loki pointed at a small table at the end of the stack.

She nodded and tried to stand with the book.

It was too heavy, and she fell backwards.

He rolled his eyes. "Here," and he lifted it with his magic.

She sighed, knowing what he was thinking, and stood, following. "There are a lot of _F's_ in that book," she said, sitting down.

He sat across from her. "There are a lot of people who were born on Midgard," he sat back. "The population really is out of control there."

"Shut up…" she hissed. She had reached _Fo…_ Ok. Her eyes scanned the pages. And another page. Another…"Foster!" Damn. There were a lot of Foster's.

He watched her as she desperately ran her finger along the page. Loki couldn't really explain the reason he took her here, except that it was odd that she was able to hold the aether, and for as long as she did. It made no sense.

Perhaps, he thought, there was something special about her.

And he cleared his throat. She was a mortal… _Thor's_ mortal. No matter how she protested, that was who she was.

"Selene Foster…!" she breathed. "And there I am," she whispered, disbelieving. "Father, unknown," she sat back. "How could he be unknown?" she looked at Loki.

"Because…he's unknown? Were your parents married?"

She shook her head. "But I know that Erik knew him."

He looked around. "Foster was your mother's name, then?"

"Yeah."

"Look her up."

"I just did…"

"No," he took the volume from her. "In the second half, there should be travels and such. If she did anything important to the Tree, for the Tree…"

"And if she didn't?"

Loki glanced at her. "Then I don't know," and he went back to the book, looking for Selene Foster in the notables section. "I don't like not knowing," he said, mostly to himself. Loki reached the section he was searching for and began to read…

Jane watched him, thinking. She had no idea what this could mean. How was it that her father was listed as "unknown" when she was positive that Erik had known him? There was an unsettling feeling in her stomach…she felt it churn.

* * *

Tony walked to the end of the hall with Steve, Thor, and Natasha.

"They're unsettled. Had a fright," Natasha said.

"Things are gonna get a whole lot more frightening if Thanos gets that stone," Tony opened the door.

There was Wanda and Vision, sitting together, looking wholly pale. Even with Vision's color. "What's happening?" Wanda asked, looking at them all.

"We've gotta get that thing out of Vision's head," Tony was looking at the automaton.

"What? No!" she held Vision's hand tighter. "It'll kill him."

"And if we don't, everyone will die," Tony said softly. "Look. I know that things have been tough…"

"You don't know," she spat. "You've been here, getting engaged, and we've been on the run for two years."

He looked at Wanda sadly. "Ok. Fair enough. But that doesn't change the fact that Thanos is coming for that thing," he pointed at the Mind Stone. "…in his head. I don't have a timeline, but my guess is pretty soon."

"Can you separate the Stone from Vision and spare…him?" Steve was looking at both of them. "'Cause I don't really like the idea of anyone dying here."

Tony rolled his eyes a touch. "People are gonna die, Steve. Balance of probability."

And Steve looked at Tony. "We don't trade lives."

"Spare me the ethics lesson, K, Cap? Millions of people are gonna _die_. We need to get that Stone…"

"But maybe we can take the Stone, and Vision will be ok…" Natasha was saying. She looked at Tony. "You're as smart as they come, Stark. I bet you and Banner could do it."

Tony sighed. "Flattery, huh? That's where we're at now?"

She shrugged. "Isn't it worth a shot?"

"What, flattery?"

"Removing the Stone surgically with the hope that Vision will be ok?"

Tony looked at Vision and Wanda. "Worth a shot," and he turned to Thor. "Can you get Bruce? Tell him what's up?"

"I can. And then I'll need to get to Nidavellir."

"Nida-va-what?" Tony asked. "We got an invasion coming, man. You're not going anywhere."

"Nidavellir. Home of the Mighty Dwarves. They will forge me a new hammer."

"And how long do you think that's gonna take?"

"Mm…I'll be back tomorrow. My people will stay here," and Thor walked to the door. "I'll send Banner."

Tony looked around at them all. "He'll send Banner."

"I heard," Steve nodded. "Ok. So. Let's get Vision to the lab. We need to start thinking about how we're gonna fight this guy," he went to the door. "And we need to find that wizard with the Time Stone."

* * *

"Nothing," said Loki.

"Nothing?"

"No. Selene Foster had nothing to do with any remarkable thing in Yggdrasil."

Jane's brow furrowed. "Well…" she was tempted to say _that's that_ , but didn't. She wasn't really a quitter. "I think that we should be focusing on who can hold Infinity Stones, and work backwards. Like, I guess Titans can…"

" _Some_ Titans can. _Some_ Aesir can. _Some_ Elves can…but I don't know why…"

"Let's go look up the Infinity Stones, Loki. Doesn't that make sense?"

He sighed. "Very well. Let's try," he stood with the book, put it back in its place on the shelf, and walked the long aisle to the door. He opened it for Jane and then pulled it shut behind him. "Over here," he led her down a few more sets of stairs, then pointed to a door on the right. It was not as large as the other doors, and the door appeared to be made of birch wood, or some other whiteish wood. It was simpler than the other ones…not as ornate. He pushed it open and walked inside.

Jane looked around…the room was lighter, almost as though it wasn't underground. The ceiling was domed, and on it was painted the cosmos as once described by Thor. She stared at it. "What is this place?"

"The catacombs, Jane. Do keep up," he was already walking to a set of stacks.

She rolled her eyes. "No. I mean…what books does this room hold?"

"Magic," and he walked on, all the way to the far back wall.

They reached it, and Jane took it in. They were color coded: purple, blue, red, orange, green, and yellow. "These are…"

"...the colors of the Infinity Stones," he said, looking at them all.

"So…there isn't a book just about general stuff…? Like, a reference book on all of them?"

He smirked at her. "No. I don't think so."

"Ok. Well…maybe we should start with the red, since that's the one I held."

He nodded. That seemed reasonable. He followed her to the red section and pulled a book randomly from the shelf.

 _The Reality Stone and its Secrets_

He paged through it, looking at the chapter titles.

 _Why it Takes the Form of the Aether_

 _How it Changes Reality_

This was not exactly what he was looking for.

Meanwhile, Jane was looking at another one, _A History of the Reality Stone._ She was reading the preface, and why these elemental gems ever came into existence. She wished she'd known about all of this a month ago. And she tucked a stray hair behind her ear.

Jane turned the page and looked at the table of contents.

 _The Reality Stone as it Relates to the Other Gems_

 _The Reality Stone and the Mind Stone…_

Each chapter went on to describe how it compares to the other Stones. She sighed. She turned another page…

 _Wielders of the Reality Stone_

Jane gasped and flipped through to chapter ten.

 _The Reality Stone has been held by several beings in history, and only twice as a group. It needs to be contained, much like its brothers._

 _Those who are known to have held the Stone are: the celestial Oneg, Hela, Goddess of Death, Ljósálfar, Villi, Ve, and Odin, All-father. Jane Foster, a mortal, was recorded as having held the Aether._

"Loki," she breathed. "Loki!"

"What?" he looked up at her. He was sitting across from her on the floor.

"My name," she said.

"What?" he stood and then sat next to her, taking the book. He read the sentence…Oneg, Ljósálfar…"Villi and Ve were Odin's brothers."

"Were?"

"No one knows what happened to them. Ljósálfar is the King of the Light Elves. Oneg is dead…his head is the planet Knowhere. And Hela…who knows where she is."

"So…could one of them be my…"

"Oneg isn't," he read on. "He couldn't. He…well," he looked up and smiled at Jane. "Let's just say he was too big."

"Ew," she scrunched her nose at him.

Loki laughed. "But Ljósálfar…that's a possibility."

"Is he here? On Alfheim?"

"Perhaps. I don't ordinarily keep track of the whereabouts of foreign Kings," he snapped the book closed. "I think the best course to take is to look at the travels of Ljósálfar. If he ever visited Midgard, then we might be onto something. If not…"

"Then who?" she shuddered to think that Hela could be her mother.

"Not Hela, Jane. She'd been in Helheim for… well. A very long while," he recognized the reticence on her face.

Jane nodded. "Ok. Well…where do we find records of monarchal travel?"

He sighed. "Mortals are very demanding, you know…" and he stood.

"I might not be all-mortal, so you should rethink that," she smiled, standing. "It's fortunate that I'm here with you, since you know this place so well," she followed him out the door.

"True. You owe me, Jane."

She laughed as he went farther down into the catacombs. "What could I possibly offer the God of Mischief?"

"Oh, I'll think of something," he said softly, and he opened a large, black door.


	13. Chapter 13

It creaked as he opened it…the door seemed to be unnaturally heavy. In they walked, and Jane looked around.

This room was dark. It was smaller than the other two rooms, and it smelled musty. "People don't care to learn about the monarchs?" she asked, her voice low.

"Well, it's not as captivating as magic, nor as relevant as lineage," he went to the stacks on Alfheim's kings. "Ljósálfar….Ljósálfar…." he was muttering. "Here," and he picked up a very new-looking book. Loki opened the table of contents. He read down to Ljósálfar's dealings with other realms, but they all dealt with Asgard and Jotunheim. "He's not been to Midgard," he said, reading a bit further.

Jane was reading over his shoulder. They were standing at a dark wooden table, and she sighed, looking at the contents. "So…not him, I guess?" Though she thought it was possible that not _all_ of his travels were recorded in that particular volume.

"Not him," and he closed the book. Loki looked at Jane…"It's possible that we won't find what you're looking for, you know."

She narrowed her gaze. "Yeah, well. I know that. But it's possible we will, too. It doesn't make sense, Loki…"

He had to admit that she was right. It didn't make sense. "No. But we also cannot be here indefinitely, Jane. Thanos is going to Midgard, and my people are there, and so are yours."

"What Stones does he have?"

"The Power Stone. He destroyed Xandar."

"Xandar?"

"A planet."

She paled. "So…where are the others?"

"The Reality Stone is with the Collector on Knowhere…that place I mentioned earlier. The sorcerer has the Time Stone. The Mind Stone is somewhere on Earth…and …" he paused. _He_ had the Tesseract hidden under Jane's apartment building. "The Space Stone is safe. No one knows where the Soul Stone is." It dawned on him that he was basically in possession of three of the Stones. With Jane here having some command of the Reality Stone, the aether could be his. He was most assuredly a target for Thanos…

Well, all the more to bargain with…

"Ok," she said. "What if…" she was going to say, _what if we went to retrieve the aether_ , but she wanted to be sure that her holding it wasn't just a fluke. "Ok. Let's just keep looking."

"For what, exactly?" he was beginning to doubt this whole enterprise.

"The other people who could hold the Reality Stone. It's still possible that one of them is my parent," she went to look for a book on Odin's siblings.

"Jane, I'm wondering if while we are here, Thanos isn't on Midgard, destroying it…" Loki didn't think so. The Titan wanted Jane, probably to kill her, but still. He would likely bring her to Knowhere, then take the aether to Earth.

He simply thought that perhaps this was a fool's errand after all, and they could be plotting a counterattack when Thanos came for the Stones.

"Don't say that," she hissed. "And what if it wasn't just a fluke that I wielded a Stone? What if I could use it to help defeat him?" she was walking down an aisle labeled _Asgard_. She didn't know if she wanted to believe that she was special or not.

"What if it wasn't?" he hissed, following her. "Do you honestly think that you can defeat Thanos? Even with the ability to wield one Infinity Stone, he's a mammoth. Titans were never easily conquered."

Jane found a book on Odin and pulled it from the shelf. "So? So what do you suggest we do?" she opened it and brought it to a table. She was beginning to resent Loki's assumptions that she didn't understand things…his disguise as a traveller when she first met him on Earth…the fact that she only half believed everything that he said to her.

…and she resented him being so close to her. She was beginning to become equal parts annoyed and intrigued. The kiss they shared was still on the cusp of her mind.

"Return to Midgard, find Thor and Tony Stark. Begin a counteroffensive and think about how we can expose any weaknesses Thanos might have."

"Do _you_ know what his weaknesses are? Because somehow I don't think he's gonna tell you," she leafed through to the table of contents.

"No. But someone knows. Everyone has a weakness," he sat at the table where she stood looking at the contents.

"What's yours?" she looked at him briefly.

"Power," he replied.

"Pfft," she traced her finger down the page.

"I had Asgard running smoothly. It was beautiful…" a faraway look graced his features.

"Loki…"

"There were performances. Large banquets. Plenty of music and dance. Asgard was happy. And peaceful. And everything was perfect…"

"Loki," she said more loudly.

"And then Thor showed up, and everything went to shit. It should have been clear that I would have made a worthy King. But _no_ …he had to seek Odin's release and then …"

"Loki! Shut up and look at this," she pushed the tome in front of him, pointing to a chapter title.

"What?" he looked at the page.

 _Vili, brother of Odin and traverser of Realms….pgs 370-550_

He looked at Jane. "So?"

"So. Turn to page three hundred seventy."

Loki did.

 _Vili, commonly known for his vast wisdom and knowledge, left Asgard after a millennia. He wanted to see what other Realms held._

 _Alfheim was the first stop on his voyage, and Vili spent many centuries there learning from the Light Elves and discovering what he could of metalwork on Nidavellir._

….he skipped down, turning the page.

 _Midgard was the third stop on his journey. There, Vili was said to have interactions with the mortals and often disguised himself as one. He did not believe that they would be able to manage knowledge of the Aesir._

He looked at Jane. "Are you suggesting that Vili, Odin's brother, is your father?" he smirked at her.

"Well, yes. It makes sense, doesn't it?"

He laughed. "To an untrained mind, yes. I suppose it would."

"What does that mean?" she sat next to him.

"It means, Jane Foster, that Vili was only on Earth for a few hundred years. Many many years before you were even thought of. And as I said, no one knows what happened to him."

She slumped back in her chair. "But what if he's been there, all along?"

"What?" his brow furrowed.

"What if Vili is still there? Or…what if he never left? Or came back?"

"By the sound of it, you have someone in mind…"

Jane smiled. "Maybe…"

* * *

"Heimdall…I need to get to Nidavellir," Thor was on the ship. Most of the Aesir had left and were living in a hotel Stark had set up for them while they figure out their plans.

"Nidavellir? To replace your hammer?"

"Yes. Thanos is coming. And the Avengers don't have a concrete plan. So…I'm starting a plan of my own."

Heimdall nodded. "Are we leaving now?" he asked.

Thor geared up the ship. He nodded. "Thanos won't wait for us to be ready. Is everyone off the ship but us?"

"Empty," and he sat next to Thor.

"Let's go."

And the ship left Earth behind them. "Thanos wants the Infinity Stones," said Heimdall with his usual indifference.

"He's after them, yes. And I mean to stop him."

"My King…"

Thor looked at him.

"I see him. And he's on Titan. He's angry."

Thor put the ship into auto-gear. "What is he angry about?" he looked at the seer eagerly.

"His children…he feels some loss…"

"Thanos has children?" Thor thought of a means to bargain with the Titan, but then thought this beneath him, and couldn't entertain it a minute longer.

"Not in the traditional sense. But he cares for them."

Thor swallowed. "He is not a monster, completely, then…"

"Even monsters have feelings," Heimdall smiled.

"You sound like some story mother would tell," he laughed. And something struck him. "Can you see Loki?"

He looked out into the cosmos. "He left Midgard."

Thor nodded.

"He's with the mortal."

"Is she well? Has he hurt her?"

"No…she's unharmed. But she's confused…and they're…" Heimdall looked at Thor. "They're on Alfheim."

"Alfheim? Was Thanos planning on going there?" it seemed absurd.

"No. Prince Loki took her there. But I cannot say why."

"Because you don't know, or because Loki is shielding them from your sight?"

"He is likely doing as you say," Heimdall admitted. "But that doesn't mean that I'd know without his interference."

Thor swallowed. He could not be deterred by Loki's games. On to Nidavellir…and a new hammer.

* * *

"I dunno…this seems complicated, Tony," Bruce sat across from Vision.

"You mean like, how you ended up on a planet at the other end of the galaxy and Thor found you?" Tony supplied.

"More," Bruce said, not laughing. "There are hundreds of thousands of connections there. And Thor was the one who ended up bringing Vision here…" he almost said _to life_ , but that didn't seem right. "…sentience. It was like magic. I feel like only something similar can undo it."

"Undo it?" Wanda sat up. "But what about Vision?"

"Well…" Bruce looked at Tony sheepishly.

"We're trying to find something that'll keep Vision in tact without the Stone," Tony shrugged.

"I don't see how…" but when Bruce looked around, he felt silly. There had to be some way. "I guess we could try to…"

"That's the spirit!" Tony said, clapping his hands.

Bruce swallowed. He appeared to be unsure, but unwilling to admit it. "All right. But maybe if we set him up for tomorrow, Thor can just come in with his new weapon and separate Vision from the Stone."

"That's not something we can count on, Doc. Let's get going," he looked at Vision, Wanda, and Natasha.

Wanda sighed and looked at Vision. "Everyone is talking about you like you're not in the room," she said softly.

"It's all right. I almost feel like I'm already gone."

* * *

He was staring at her, and they were very close. His eyebrows went up his forehead. "Is it a secret?"

"No…" she looked at his mouth, then back up. "What do you think about Erik?"

"Selvig?" he crinkled his nose.

Jane nodded. "He said he knew my father…what if he _was_ my father?"

"That makes no sense. I used the Mind Stone on him. He was very susceptible."

"But…what if he'd forgotten who he was? What if he's stuck there, on Earth…?"

"That's a lot of _what if's_ , Jane," Loki sat back. "Vili…he's been gone for centuries. I only met him when I was a boy once. And there's Ve, no one knows what happened to him, either," he looked at his hands. "It's a nice story, but so incredibly unlikely."

"Faithless," she said, sitting back with him. "I dunno. Maybe it was an accident that I held the aether. Maybe the universe made a mistake."

"The universe doesn't make mistakes."

"No? It sure feels like it," she muttered.

He looked at her…she was staring at her lap. Loki swallowed, and took her hand, squeezing it. He wasn't sure if he was doing this to gain favor, or to comfort her.

Maybe both. "I know what it feels like."

"What what feels like?" she looked at him, not letting go of his hand.

"Hopelessness."

"I dunno if I feel hopeless. But I know I feel frustrated."

"I know that too," he smiled, taking his hand back.

Jane sighed, and stood. "Does that cover all of the possibilities, then, for my parents?"

He thought a moment. "I believe so."

"Then let's go," she pushed the chair in.

"Where? Midgard?"

"No," she looked at him, aghast. "Knowhere."


	14. Chapter 14

He was leading her out of the catacombs, but he was thinking that this was a mistake. They needed to get back to Earth, not go to Knowhere, looking for gods knew what.

He was unsure of the lot. Would Jane be able to contain the Reality Stone? Would the attempt kill her?

If Jane died, what would Thanos do?

"Are you gonna…transport us like you did before?" she asked.

"I am," he replied.

Jane walked up the stairs, thinking. He was being weird again…and there could be any number of reasons why. He was, after all, Loki. She reached out for his elbow. "Hey…"

"Leaving, Prince Loki?" Nindrol asked after them.

He turned, looking at the Elf. He nodded, smiling slightly. "Thank you, Nindrol, for your assistance."

"Not at all. Did you find what you were looking for?"

Jane turned fully toward him now. He seemed to be different. There was something amiss here…"No," she reflexively said. At the moment, she didn't quite trust him. And it wasn't exactly a lie.

"Strange. The catacombs almost never disappoint."

"I didn't say I was disappointed," Jane replied.

"But you were unable…"

"They're amazing. And I could never be disappointed in something like that," she smiled.

"Let's go, shall we Ms Selvig?" Loki smiled at her.

Jane nodded and followed him out. "I didn't like him asking questions like that," she said after they descended the stairs to the street.

"He's nothing."

"What does that mean?"

"It means that he isn't going to say anything to anyone. He's a quiet sort. He works in an enormous library, for gods sake," he smiled at her and stopped. "So…you want to go to Knowhere to see the Collector, is it?"

She shrugged. "It makes sense. Maybe I can …" what? She hardly knew anymore. "You know, though…I am hungry…" when _was_ the last time she had eaten?

He nodded, smiling to himself. "There are plenty of places here. We can walk just a bit and find one."

"Great," and she said it a little too enthusiastically, unsure if it was apprehension, or something best left unsaid.

* * *

"There is trouble ahead…" Heimdall was looking from the front of the ship.

"It's darker than I remember," said Thor, his eye searching for Nidavellir.

"No. The star is out."

"What?" his brow furrowed and he looked closer. Indeed, it appeared as though the star had lost its fire. "How is that possible?"

"Something…" Heimdall was looking on with a wary eye.

Thor moved to the helm and squinted. "It's out," he turned to the seer. "The star is out." They entered the star's pull and he blinked disbelievingly. "What's happened?"

Heimdall turned to leave the ship. "Thanos."

"Here?" Thor's brow furrowed. Why would Thanos be here, on Nidavellir?

"He's gone. Left it…"

The ship landed with a small thud, sounding much less impressive than it did landing on Midgard.

The pair disembarked and looked around. "It's cold…"

Heimdall's back went ramrod straight, waiting for a sound of life…"There's someone here."

Thor looked around. The darkness was so thick that he was still having trouble adjusting his eye. It was as though a veil had cloaked the star.

And they heard crying.

Thor looked around. "Eitri?" there was no one there…no one. And he hoped beyond hope that Eitri had survived Thanos, or whatever had laid waste to this place.

"Thor?" and the massive dwarf appeared out of the shadows.

"What happened?"

The dwarf slumped to the floor. Heimdall went over to him. "He slaughtered them all."

And Eitri sighed. He nodded. "I gave him what he wanted."

"What did he want?" asked Thor.

Eitri swallowed, looking up at him. "I …"

"Thor," said Heimdall. "Come here."

He walked over. "By the gods…" he breathed.

The mold for a gigantic gauntlet lay on the floor.

* * *

Wanda was holding Vision's hand. Everyone was bustling about, trying to prepare for Thanos, and to ensure Vision's recovery. "I'm here," she was saying.

And Tony was watching, thinking of Pepper. He should see if she's ok, then send her somewhere out of the fray. "Hey, Bruce? How's things going here?"

"I feel like I need another set of eyes. Someone who's not us."

"Yeah. Like a renowned astrophysicist who was in contention for a Noble Prize?"

"Well, I was thinking more biodynamics, but sure. You got a spare astrophysicist laying around?"

He smiled. "She was on her way, but was either kidnapped or killed by Loki."

This stopped him. "Loki? You mean Jane Foster? Thor said something about him bringing her here."

"Well, that _was_ supposed to happen…"

"Where are we at here, Tony?" Steve Rogers walked up, a crease on his brow.

"We're just prepping our guy here."

"We need to speed it up. We don't know where Thanos is…"

Tony and Bruce sighed. "We got it."

Steve offered a curt nod and turned away. He walked briskly down the hall.

"They have no idea what they're doing, do they?" Natasha fell into step with him.

"Doesn't look like it."

"We need more brains."

"Yeah…I know. But I don't know if they'll come, or if I should even ask," he looked out of the window.

"Who?" she crossed her arms and looked up at him. "Don't hold out on me, Rogers," she smiled. "We've been through too much these past couple of years."

"Well, you remember the Prince? T'Challa?"

She nodded. "He's King now."

He smiled. "They've got brains to spare," and looked at his feet.

"Wakanda?"

"That's where Bucky's at."

Her hands fell. "What?"

He looked up at her. "Don't be mad, Nat. I haven't told anyone."

"Not even Sam?"

"Not even Sam. Too dangerous for people to know…." he looked out of the window again and grasped at the railing surrounding it. "We're here…at Avengers headquarters in upstate New York…and there's an intergalactic threat…" he turned. "We need whatever help we can get."

"Yeah ok. How do you get in touch with …" she paused. "Wakanda?"

* * *

"How well do you know Alfheim?"

"Well enough."

"Well enough that I'll enjoy my last meal ever?" she smiled.

"What do you mean?"

Jane looked at the road in front of her. It stretched long, and dusk was falling. A moon could be spied just on the horizon as a peachy color emerged. "I'm going to confront Thanos. What are my odds of surviving that?"

"Fair."

She looked at him. "What?"

"Well, you are with _me_ Jane. A known sorcerer. I have some talents at my disposal."

She rolled her eyes. "I feel so much better."

He smiled. "Just here. There is a wealth of choices for a beverage. And the food isn't horrid."

"Like Earth?"

"You said it, not me," he opened the door for her.

Jane walked in, and the following scene unfurled before her eyes:

People, Light Elves, she guessed, were dressed in earthen colors…tunics mostly. They had varying skin tones, but almost everyone had reddish hair.  
It was a dark place, but bands of dying light streamed in from the windows.

There was a lot of noise, mostly from talking. She swallowed, looked at Loki. "It's nice."

He chuckled. "Best keep your observations to a minimum. Not all Light Elves are completely…pleasant."

She furrowed her brow and looked around. They appeared to be harmless enough. She shrugged, following him to a table in the back.

They sat at a round table, and Jane apprehensively looked for some sort of menu…some indication that food was prepared here.

Someone approached them and placed a couple of mats in front of them. She raised her eyebrows.

"We'll have the harvest mead," Loki nodded, smiling slightly.

She left, and Jane looked out of the window. "Why are you being so accommodating and nice?"

"Would you rather I be disagreeable and inconvenient? Because I am well versed in them both."

"No," she looked at the table and swallowed. "But…I feel as though I'm missing something here."

"Such as?"

And now she looked at him. "Why are you helping me?"

"Because you made the idiot decision to board that ship, and I told Thor that I'd bring you to headquarters. And I feel responsible for you."

"But then…why not bring me right to him then? Why go along with all this?"

He studied her for a moment. "Because there is something to what you say, and I am curious by nature. And…" he swallowed, looking down. "And I've grown to be concerned about your welfare."

Jane smiled. "Well, I guess that's something."

"It certainly is," he looked at her, brow furrowed a bit. "I've changed very much recently, Jane Foster. And this expedition is part of that."

Their drinks arrived, and the server left. She sipped. "I'm afraid," it took a lot to admit this to him, for she was unsure of him as yet. Despite his assurances, he _was_ the God of Mischief.

"Of?"

"…of…of being right. And of being wrong."

"About your abilities to wield…" he paused, looking around. "The thing in question."

She nodded. "Strangely, I'm not very scared to die. I almost feel as though it's inevitable. But…what does it mean if I _am_ more than human? What does it mean if I'm not? And why the fuck didn't I consider this before yesterday?"

"My guess is you had other things on your mind."

She shrugged. "Still…"

"Food?"

Loki looked up. "Is the stew fresh?"

She nodded.

"Two, then."

Jane followed the server with her eyes. "She's a strange one."

"She doesn't speak much English."

"Oh," she looked at him now. "What do they speak here?"

"All sorts. Elvish. Norwegian. A few others you're probably not familiar with."

"Do you speak all of the languages native to Alfheim?"

"Of course I do," he sipped as their bowls came.

"It's delicious," she smiled, taking a bite. She figured that Loki was bright, but she was beginning to think that he was borderline genius. "What's the plan once we get to Knowhere?"

"Well, we'll need to speak to Taneleer Tivan. Which is irritating."

"Who's Taneleer Tivan?"

"The Collector I mentioned."

She nodded. "He has it?"

"Yes. And I suppose that once we get it, we'll see what happens."

"…to me?"

He took another bite. "Yes."

"Last time it nearly killed me."

"We would do well to avoid that this time round."

She sighed. "Yeah."

He looked at her, then leaned in a bit. "Jane…are you certain that you want to attempt this?"

"No. But I don't know what else to do. What if I can stop him?"

"What if you can't?" he wasn't sure why her determination to face the Titan caused him disquiet, but there it was.

"Then I'll know. And I'll likely lose my life…but…" she swallowed, suddenly not so hungry. "But at this point, I hardly care."

"What does that mean? Are you pitying yourself?"

"No. Yes," she figured she'd be honest. "I'm a joke in my field. I've been made into a punch line where Thor is concerned. I'm all alone…" and she realized just how pathetic she sounded. She played with her stew, then sat back.

He sighed. "I won't sit here and listen to this. So you've been made a fool of by Thor. You'll prove yourself by either my feigning interest, or by virtue of his being around you. As for your field, they'll certainly be convinced after all of this is over."

"I'm not even sure that I _want_ to make him jealous anymore. I'm not angry with him. I …" she wasn't really thinking about him at all. "I just want to move on."

He smiled. "Then do it."

"I guess I'm just in limbo. And I feel as though I'm grasping, desperate for something to be real in my life. For something to make sense. Something to be _good_ for a change. I can't tell you why I jumped on that ship, but there was a part of me that wanted to be reckless. To be free…to prove myself."

"And you think that should you discover your parentage, if there's anything to that, that you'll be free? It might not, you know. I have some experience in this area. And if anything, the knowledge was enslaving."

She lowered her gaze, then back again. "I'm not sure what you mean."

"I mentioned to you before that I was adopted. Well, what I didn't tell you was that I had spent most of my life believing that Odin was my real father. That I was an Aesir."

"You're not?"

"No."

"Oh…"

…and something along the periphery of thought ignited recognition. "You said that your mother died young and your father never remarried…did you or did you not know your father?"

She smirked, shrugging. "I reversed it. I didn't want to divulge too much to you. It seemed like a good idea at the time."

Loki chuckled. "Touche, Jane Foster."

"So…you're saying that knowledge enslaved you?"

"In a manner of speaking, yes."

"I dunno…" she sighed.

How could he expedite the process and get this mortal back to Midgard? She was waffling, and he couldn't waste too much more time. He'd rather avoid Thanos if possible. "Are you finished?"

"Yeah," Jane shrugged.

"Then let's get to Knowhere. I fear for our people."

"Our people?"

"Yes. Yours and mine."

She blanched. "Do you honestly think that Thanos is there already?"

"I am no fortune teller, Jane."

Her mouth set. "If we went to Knowhere now, how would we get back to Earth quickly?"

"My powers can get us there, I think."

"It can't hurt to try Knowhere, can it?"

 _It could._ "Jane, if you are able to wield the Aether, it would make you a target. If not, it could kill you."

"I have nothing to lose."

He looked at her steadily. "I cannot believe that. You have your work. You have…Thor."

"I don't _have_ Thor. And no one cares about what I say in the community any longer."

"Then you have me," he sat back. "It wasn't that long ago you kissed me," and there it was. He brought it up in casual conversation.

She swallowed. "I did."

"You regret it," he said without feeling.

"No. No, I don't," but she said it without feeling. "Though it feels almost a lifetime ago."

"We have travelled far, Jane," he drank the rest of the mead. "Surmised much. Shared some stories…"

She shrugged. Finished her stew. "Let's go. There is no point in waiting any longer. I'll either meet Thanos on Knowhere or Earth. Or else die in the attempt."

"Your optimism is unparalleled," he smirked. "Fine. Knowhere. But let's hurry. I fear for Midgard and her inhabitants…" he stood, left some units, and offered her his hand.

She took it.


	15. Chapter 15

They materialized on Knowhere, and the first thing that Jane noticed was the smell. It was an odd sensation, and she couldn't place the scent. She looked around.

It was bustling. There were merchants about, and there was loud music playing somewhere. She felt Loki's presence next to her. "Interesting place," she said.

"Well, yes. I suppose that's one way to put it."

"What's another way?"

He smiled at her. "Terrifying," he looked around. "And smelly."

She giggled. "I was just thinking that."

"Well, I suppose we need to find Taneleer Tivan. The insipid cur."

Jane thought that his strictures and insults were a bit much. But she had never met him, so she kept silent.

Loki walked down toward a particularly odd avenue toward the place he knew Tivan to keep his wares. It was a dirty place, full of odd looking creatures he knew he had seen at some point in his travels, but couldn't be bothered to remember where or when.

For Jane's part, it seemed like something out of a Star Wars movie. She kept close to Loki, but not so close that she was touching him. She didn't want him thinking that she was afraid.

Even though she rather was.

"Just here…" he motioned.

She swallowed, her head falling, and went into the longish corridor. She kept her head down in an effort to stay as inconspicuous as possible.

A girl with pink skin approached them. "How may I be of service?" she asked in a monotone voice.

"We are here to see Taneleer Tivan," replied Loki, absently. "I have something in his keep."

She nodded. "And who are you?"

"Loki of Asgard."

She turned.

He folded his hands behind him and looked at Jane, offering a wink.

"I'm glad you can be so flippant," she hissed.

"It's simply not a matter of flippancy, Jane. Being upset about any of this will do no good at all."

She knew he was right, but she was so consumed with what she was about to possibly discover, she could hardly stand it. And there was the looming possibility that Thanos would show up any minute.

They stood in silence for a few minutes, thoughts flooding Jane's mind rapidly. What if she died trying to hold the Reality Stone? What if she destroyed everything here, including Loki? She side-eyed him. What would he do with her if she could wield the stone?

Or perhaps, what would _she_ do with _him_?

This was certainly unchartered territory for her. She kicked at a stone on the ground.

"What's occupying your mind, Jane?"

She looked up at him hurriedly. "Ah…well. Lots of things, I guess."

He smiled at her; a genuine smile that reached his eyes. "Nothing bad will happen as long as you're here with me."

She shrugged. "I kinda don't care anymore."

"The Collector will see you now," came the pink-skinned girl's voice.

Jane swallowed and followed her. "Jane…hang on just a moment."

She stopped. "What?"

"I think that I should go ahead…I don't trust Tivan. No one does." Loki looked around, the girl already long inside. "I'll go. You follow. On my signal, emerge. With any luck, I'll be able to hand the Stone right to you."

"What's the signal?"

"I'll say…" he paused. "I'll call your name."

"Oh, that's not at all obvious," she hissed.

"I'll have him sufficiently distracted," he placed his hand on her elbow. "Do you trust me?"

Jane looked at him. Did she? That's what all of this came to, didn't it? And thus far, she was behaving like she did. She was gallivanting across the universe with him, wasn't she? Her life was basically in his hands. She swallowed, thinking once more of the kiss they shared, as her gaze fell to his mouth.

Loki returned her earnest stare. "Well?" he wouldn't admit to himself just how much he was counting on her answer on many, many levels.

"I …do. Yes."

"Then hide. And get to a place that will allow you to hear me."

She nodded and followed more at a distance. She was doubting the wisdom of this plan…but she had made her decision when she got into that car with him. They were gonna be in this together.

"Loki. How very unsurprising."

He heard Tivan laughing softly. "Since you are omniscient as ever, why do you think I'm here?"

And the Collector came into view as he rounded a corner of displays.

"Well, there are many things that might interest you here. However, I understand that the Titan, Thanos, is on the move having decimated Asgard," Tivan sneered. "And I believe I know what he seeks…" the "s" ended in a hiss.

"Of course you know, Tivan. Now, wouldn't it be prudent to hand it over to me? You'd be safe from the wrath of the Titan."

"To _you_ , Asgardian? Why would I ever… _ever_ do such a thing?"

"Because we entrusted it to you temporarily. It was meant to be a holding place until we could come to retrieve it," he smiled. "And I'm here to retrieve it."

Tivan returned Loki's smile. "Of course, Prince. Anything for an Odinson. Or…a Prince of Jotunheim…?"

Loki's face fell. "King, actually. So I suggest you retrieve the package."

Tivan's face was a mask. He barely moved save a very, very slight smirk.

Thus far, Tivan seemed as though he was being compliant. There wasn't anything he was saying that Loki hadn't expected. "The Stone was placed in your care for safe keeping. Not as a gift."

Almost indiscernibly, Tivan looked at his slave-girl. And she moved toward the back.

"It's a beautiful thing."

"Thanos will be coming for you, Tivan. I suggest you flee."

"I'll tell him to look for you, Asgardian. And where will you be? Earth?" he smirked.

"Why would I tell you?"

No answer, but the Collector held his gaze for a moment. "The Titan will, no doubt, be looking for whomever claimed the Stone."

He cocked a brow, but remained impassive.

…and Carina came out, holding a container of what appeared to be glass. There was a red stone glowing in the center.

He wanted, desperately, to simply grab it from her…but he stopped himself. He would wait until it was in his grasp, given to him by her.

She walked toward him, a steady look on her face. It was as though she knew what power lurked inside…

And the Collector, a look of hunger on his face all the while, watched raptly as Carina stopped before Loki, handing him the Reality Stone.

He took it gracefully, nodding to her. "Thank you," he smiled. Then looked at Tivan. "It's most appreciated."

"It's Asgard's. And she needs it now more than ever, I think," Tivan replied.

Loki took a few steps backward. It had all been too easy…"Jane!" he called.

And she emerged from the shadow, her heart pounding ferociously in her chest. She was terrified, and she couldn't hide her tremble.

Loki looked at her now. "I'm going to open this…and I want you to touch the Stone."

Her sepia eyes held his. This was it.

She glanced at Tivan. He hadn't made a move. She licked her lips and nodded. She knew that she was either going to be able to hold the Stone or die there and then. "I never loved Thor," she whispered.

"I know it," he replied. "You told me."

"I want you to understand that, though," and she looked at him once more, her eyes welling. "And I don't regret kissing you. And I …" might as well, she thought. "And I've thought about doing it again. More than I care to admit."

Loki swallowed. Why was she telling him this now? Did she think she wouldn't survive?  
Did he care?

 _Too late_ , he thought. It was too late. His entire world was at stake, and he was juggling so many balls that any one of them falling would set the others in a similar motion. "So have I ," he said in response. And he opened it.

…the aether was a strange manifestation of the Stone. It was almost as though it sensed Jane Foster being there…

And it swirled around her…familiar yet strange…and it lunged for her, seeping into her cells…

She felt paralyzed. But she knew that she needed to succumb, if only a little. This time, she was ready. And she would have more control over the stuff invading her veins.

Jane clenched her fists.

And when she looked around, it was as though through a red haze of a reality that was only somewhat real…some of it was a construct of her mind. "Loki?" she said, her voice sounding hollow to her ears.

"Jane."

She looked at him…and the aether was swimming in her eyes.

"How are you feeling?" he asked.

"That girl…is she mortal?" Tivan called out. They had forgotten he was there.

"No," Loki replied, not looking at him. "She's much more than a mere mortal," and now he looked. "And you can tell that to Thanos when he comes to collect the Reality Stone," he took Jane's hand…

…and they disappeared.

* * *

"There is a call for you, my King," Okoye was holding her hand out to King T'Challa, the hologram of Steve Rogers sitting there.

"Steve Rogers," he said to her, then held his own hand out, the hologram materializing. "Steve Rogers. How are you?"

"I've been better, your Highness. We've got some problems here in New York."

"What sort of problems?"

"We need your science in Wakanda…we can't move the patient. Can you come here? You and maybe Shuri?"

T'Challa cleared his throat and looked at Okoye. "I need to take the Princess to New York. How long will that take?"

She shrugged. "A couple of hours," and she nodded, her heels clicking, and left.

"A couple of hours," he smiled at Steve.

"See you then. I'll get the address to Shuri," he closed the phone, and looked at Natasha. "They'll be here…"

"…in a couple of hours. I heard."

"They're good, Nat. They can help us."

Natasha sighed, folding her arms. "Yeah. Thing is, I'm not so sure anymore. I'm not convinced anyone can help us."

"When'd you become such a fatalist?"

"Since I heard a Titan was looking for Infinity Stones to do something seriously fucked up to the entire universe."

He laughed. "Tony and Bruce can use the help. It'll be ok."

She shrugged. "It will, unless it won't," and she walked away.

He followed her with his eyes. He knew she was right, but he was too much of an optimist to admit it.

* * *

 _A/N: thank you for sticking with this story, and I apologize for this update being slightly shorter than my other chapters. This just seemed like a good place to cut it._

 _Next up: Thor and Heimdall, and Loki and Jane emerge on Earth._


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